Bioshock Titanium (Part 1)
by Defcon1234
Summary: "They say there's no such place as paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the earth, there's nothing there." One man opposed that saying. Seceding from his country, he created a garden of Eden for the future. But others chose to eat the forbidden fruit, and so his creation went through unwanted changes. If there was such place as paradise, would it be real, or just a mirage?
1. Chapter 1

BIOSHOCK TITANIUM

(Part 1)

Chapter 1

("Bioshock" belongs to Ken Levine and Irrational games.)

(I also do not own the songs used in this fanfic.)

_Welcome to your life, _

_there's no turning back._

_Even while we sleep,_

_we will find you_

_acting on your best behavior._

_Turn your back on mother nature._

_Everybody wants to rule the world..._

The song played on the radio without being drowned by the occupant's voices.

The grey overcoat wearing driver listened diligently to the song while simultaneously looking at the road in front of him, the headlights showing him the way.

He began to hum to the lyrics in order to pass the time.

… _There's a room where the light won't find you,_

_holding hands while the walls come tumbling down._

_When they do, i'll be right behind you!_

The man stopped humming once something crossed his mind.

"Hey." He called.

There was no response.

"Hey!" He raised his voice.

"Wha-huh?' was what he heard back.

"How's the ride?" He quickly glanced behind him, to face the tan coated stallion who was also wearing the same overcoat as him. The pony looked back at him with attentiveness and fear as his body took up the whole back seat.

"It's alraght, I guess." The pony answered as he used his right fore hoof to scratch his scalp where a mane as dark as coal lies over it, "Never knew that this is how you humans get around."

"Yep."

It was all he could say, creating an awkward silence in between them. Quickly, they began to think of something in order to keep the conversation going.

"So, how long will it take befur we reach the border?" The pony asked once he came up with that , and also realizing that he should've asked that hours ago.

"I don't know." He replied calmly, "But I know that we're close by."

The pony looked up and observed the outside, where it was nighttime and all he could see was brown arid land and the road they were over. The full moon was out, in which he marveled and questioned.

"Oh. Anyways, whah does the moon not have a mare on it?"

"Excuse me?" He asked, taken aback by the odd question.

"In Equestria, there's a mare on that moon, and she's visible on it. How come you don't see it?"

"Huh?" The man quickly glanced at the moon to his left, just to find its bright radiance beam down on them. Then he began to remember, "Oh, I heard of that. My Geography teacher taught us about this. That your leader banished her evil sister to the moon, like how god banished angel Lucifer to hell. In my opinion they both made huge mistakes."

The stallion began to think about that, questioning if he was right about that or not.

"According to my textbook, it says that she is now visible on the moon in Equestria... and ONLY in Equestria."

"Oh, No wonder."

"Also, it states that her evil sister, named Nightmare moon, will someday come back to your land for her revenge. But many ponies as well as us say that it's just folklore."

"Yeah. You must've been paying a lot of attention in that class."

"Guess I have."

There was a pause in the conversation before it was quickly saved by something else that hit the man's mind.

"Hey, I just realized that you're starting to talk a little more frequent now."

"Well, ah guess ah am."

"Yep, 'cause back in the motel, you were so down in the dumps. What happened?"

The stallion placed his head on his left fore leg and letting his right one dangle as he began to mope, "It's personal."

There was another pause, "You were depressed that you had to leave some ponies you loved back home, right?"

The pony was now dumbstruck that he figured it out, briefly widening his eyes in order to show that, "How... how did you..."

"That's an obvious reason. It's sad to see that, but longing to see your relatives is not as important as fighting for them. And yes I know why you're here."

He gazed at the night sky, maintaining his frown, "Ah guess you do."

"Just like me, your family is in debt and you took this job in order to get rid of it."

His heart sank even more.

"It's odd that you took this job."

"Whah ask that?"

"Well, one reason is that your cutie mark is a sickle."

He looked behind him to look at it sit on his flank, imagining it looking back at him with cold cynical eyes.

Looking up towards the rear view mirror, he noticed the stallion's face and decided to say no more.

"And that was tears for fears with 'Everybody wants to rule the world'." said a coolheaded voice on the radio, "The time is three .A.M mountain time and the temperature is at seventy five degrees."

"Wow, have I really been driving for that long?" The man wondered.

"The top story at this hour... wait, sorry it's been the top story since five in the afternoon. Anyways, the US government... in fact as well as all of Europe is on high alert after the fall of Rome. GRM demonstrators have taken the city, causing similar uprisings all across the country, including Vatican city..."

When the radio host mentioned that city, the stallion was distraught.

"... For now, all that NATO can do is guard each other and guard themselves as the GRM threat begins to worsen... In other news, prices at the pump continue to increase as the Arab league continues their fight against the GRM forces occupying the Arab peninsula. Today, Egyptian forces were able to reach the city of Mecca, only to meet with heavy resistance. Fighting continues there.

"Back home, lines at gas stations across the country continue to grow because of this with prices up to ten-fifty per gallon..."

The pony spoke since he couldn't hear any more, "Hey, was there a second reason ta whah it's odd for me to take this job?"

The man was kind of bewildered on why he would ask that, "You know why I didn't say my second reason?"

The stallion was quick to know that, "Oh, raght. But, can you just tell me anyways?"

"Fine. The second reason is because you Equestrians are a peaceful clan. Why shoot up bad guys for money when you have jobs back there."

"You know that we have a Royal guard raght?' the stallion asked, for he knew that he was starting to become a little ignorant.

The man however, was quick to notice that, "Oh yeah... sorry. Anyways, with your cutie mark, I don't think your job is in hunting at all. So are you farmer?"

"Well, yes. Bailin' hay and pickin' wheat. Cuz that's what ah do."

"Huh, so can you tell how did you notice that, thus earning your mark?" Ivan asked, curious as he glanced at the stallions blue eyes on his rear view mirror.

However, the pony grew ashamed again, "Ah don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, sorry." He apologized, regretting asking that.

"... These are Dire times, but we need to move forward. Let's just hope that Capitol hill will someday come with a solution to this. Now, back to the music."

The next song began to play.

_Red red wine_

_goes to my head._

_Makes me forget that I_

_still need this so._

The song made the pony's stomach churn just by listening to the first line. He couldn't take it once the first stanza was sung.

"Hey, can you turn off the song please?' He asked politely.

"Whaddaya mean? As in change the channel, or turn off the radio?"

"Ugh, whatever ya decide." He was starting to grow irritated by the song.

"Good, because I need my dose of music." The man changed the channel with a simple push of a button.

_Where'd all the good people go?_

_I've been changing channels _

_I don't see them on the tv shows._

_Where'd all the good people go?_

_We got heaps and heaps of what we sow._

"Oh good." He said with gratitude, "I love this song. Jack Johnson is good singer."

But he forgot to ask, "Oh, uh, is this song ok with you?"

The pony nodded to the man, for was looking at him through the rear view mirror. Still, the stallion would say in a polite manner, "Thank you."

"Your welcome."

They let the song replace their conversation for a few seconds, until the man had to ask, "Hey, why don't you like Bob-"

"Huh?"

He forgot about how music is dealt with Equestria, "I mean, why don't you like 'Red red wine'? It's a good song."

The stallion let out a sigh of sadness, "Again, personal."

"Alright." The man replied emotionlessly.

"Turn right." A feminine voice directed.

He did as he was told and steered to the right. That's when he and the pony began to see dust.

"Uh sir?"

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't the machine tell ya to stay on the road?"

"Nope, because our destination isn't the border itself."

The pony began to grow suspicious, "So, where are we goin' then?"

"You'll see."

The pony didn't say anything after that, all he did was wait.

"You'll be approaching your destination in one mile."

"Thank god." the man mumbled after letting out another sigh of relief.

Once that mile was driven over, he let go of the gas pedal, letting the car slow down.

When the speedometer reached 20 mph, he pressed the brake, causing the SUV to make an abrupt stop as if it crashed onto an invisible wall. He then placed the lever on park and twisted the key in order to cut the engine off.

"Now remember, I don't know what lies over there. And I don't know what they think of Equestria ponies." The man reminded him before they quickly got out. The stallion was able to exit because he was able to put his hoof on the handle, which made Ivan appreciate that he doesn't have to help him out..

"So, are you sure that you're up to this?' He asked worryingly.

They then stood face to face.

"Yes sir." The pony replied while looking up at his dark eyes with his blue ones, "Ah'm not goin' anywhere."

"Good." He began to grow confident because of his response, "The name's Ivan, Ivan Bentley."

He placed his right hand in between them.

This also made the pony a little confident, "Nahce to meet you Ahvan, Ma name is Haystack."

He placed his left hoof and let Ivan grab onto it . They shook hands with pride before letting go.

Then, standing side by side, they walked past the SUV's hood and into the unknown.

"So where are we goin'?" Haystack asked after a couple of minutes of walking.

Ivan didn't say anything for about two seconds before saying, "Over there."

He was pointing at a lighted opening on the ground, "It's a better way past the border than actually heading directly towards it."

"Whaddaya mean 'A better way'?" Haystack asked suspiciously, "Whah can't we just head towurds the border?"

"You'll know once we get there."

Haystack said nothing after that until they reached the opening.

"It's just a basement." He said as he noticed the stairs in front of them.

"Ugh," He rolled his eyes, "Just follow me."

And so he did, as Ivan walked down the stairs. Once at the bottom, a hallway would behold them.

"It's not a basement, Haystack, it's a gateway." Ivan said calmly to an enthralled pony.

They began to walk down the hall, the lights showing them the way.

A couple of seconds later, they began to hear music. Music that makes you feel sad and lyrics that add insult to the injury.

_All around me are familiar faces,_

_worn out places, worn out faces._

_Bright and early for the daily races,_

_going nowhere, going nowhere..._

The lyrics made Ivan's stomach churn a little, but he had to put that aside as they began to run.

After a few seconds of doing so, they managed to find the source of that music. A radio the size of a toolbox was playing it with good quality sound, letting the music flow like water down a waterfall.

Next to the radio was a middle aged man with blond hair and blue eyes looking at them in a serious manner. He was wearing a tuxedo and was holding a silver platter in his arms, just like a butler.

"Good morning, Mister Bentley." He replied in a deep casual voice.

"Morning to you sir." He replied in a polite manner.

"What is displayed on the platter is what you'll need for this mission."

The duo looked down to find a rectangular prism shaped box in front of them. There was a note attached to it as well, so Ivan decided to grab it. The note read,

Ivan,

Deliver this package to SILVER FOX,

in order to wipe away your debt!

Same thing goes for your equine comrade.

-Your boss

After reading it to Haystack, there were clear on what their objective was, but not on further details. So Ivan had to ask, "Hey,do you know where does silver fox live at?"

"I'm sorry mister Bentley, but the boss hasn't offered any further information on who Silver fox is, and where does she live."

"Oh." Ivan replied in disappointment.

"Also, the boss has ordered me to tell you that you are not allowed to open the package. This is classified material for silver fox to view."

"Got it."

"Good. When you are both ready, you may proceed."

Ivan grabbed the package before the two left. But that's when the man remembered something and got Ivan by the right arm to ask him.

"Hey, how did you get here?"

"Uh, by SUV?"

"Can I have the keys to it."

"Uh, sure. It's all yours." Ivan tossed him the keys.

"Ahvan!" Haystack shouted in disbelief.

"Oh thank you sir!" He said ecstatically before taking the radio and running off with the keys.

"Whah the hell did ya do that?" Haystack asked, still shocked by Ivan's decision.

"Haystack, that guy was in the middle of nowhere for god knows when, he deserves a ride home."

Haystack had no choice but to agree, "Ah guess yer raght."

"That's what I thought. Now come on, let's go."

They proceeded down the hall once more, package in hand.

Then in just a few steps, they wound up in a dead end where a bronze metal door was waiting for them.

"Well, there it is." Ivan said as they gazed at the door, "The entrance."

"Good, So how are we goin' to get in, there's no doorknob." Haystack asked.

"Simple."

He walked up to the door and stood still. That's when a green light illuminated above them. The door slide open, revealing what appears to be a small red lighted room.

Haystack whistled in amusement, "It's rare to fahnd that in Equestria."

Ivan didn't want to create a discussion about this, so he said, "Let's just get in. No time for observation."

The stallion nodded in agreement before following Ivan inside the small room. The inside (Other than the red lights.) proved to be nothing more than a small transport, with metal walls surrounding all four sides along with two black leather folding seats to the two's right.

"Looks like we have to sit there, don't we?" said Ivan.

"Ah don't know." Haystack replied bewilderedly, "Back in Equestria-"

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, raght." Haystack quickly remembered about how human chairs worked,but he wasn't familiar with those, "So how do those work?"

"Ugh, easy."

He unfolded the chair to his left to demonstrate before sitting on it as he held onto it.

"Again, so easy." He said as he placed the package on his lap.

"Ok." said Haystack uncertainly.

He walked up to the chair before using his teeth to grab onto the bottom before pulling it down. He then let go, only to have it quickly snap back in place.

Ivan would roll his eyes before using his hand to pull it down.

"Sit." He ordered.

Haystack did just that as Ivan held the seat down. Once his haunches were inches away from his hand, he quickly released it from the surface. The chair began to creak as his weight made the chair struggled to support.

Meanwhile, Ivan looked to his left to find a three point seat belt that was mentally ordering him to put it on. And so he did, and he told Haystack to do the same.

"Haystack, put your seatbelt on." He already had the sash in front of him as he slid the fastener into the buckle to his left.

Haystack in the meantime, had trouble doing that as well, "Ya mean that thang?"

"Yes, it's to your left."

Haystack managed to find it without any trouble. Before Ivan knew it, he was already grabbing onto the sash with his teeth before pulling it down towards the buckle... until his mouth couldn't reach it of course, so he used his hooves to finish the task.

"Huh, you're a fast learner." Ivan complemented.

"Thanks." said Haystack as he took the compliment with pride.

_CLANG!_

"Whoah." Ivan said in reaction to that.

They turned in that direction to find out that the door had slid shut.

"Well, guess that means that it's-"

Haystack's sentence was interrupted when a chirpy feminine voice loomed in, causing to jolt before breathing heavily from the shock.

"Congratulations. You have located our secret entrance into paradise! Please wait, for we are preparing for departure, now."

Haystack however, continued to breath heavily as he stuck with his scared expression.

"Just calm down." Ivan requested sympathetically, for he knew that this is something new to the pony.

"Ah'm trahin'!" Haystack replied irritably, "It's that that voice scared meh"

"It's just-"

"We will be departing into paradise in T-minus fifteen seconds." The happy voice informed them.

"It's just a woman in a speaker telling us this. Nothing out of the ordinary." Ivan pointed out as Haystack's heavy breathing slowly faded. However, once he was breathing normally, he just looked straight forward as if nothing happened. Ivan took that as if he understood what he just said.

"Five, four, three, two, one."

Their heads were knocked back slightly as they began to feel the room move through their feet and their chests. They remained quiet for awhile, letting the sound of a moving train flow right through their ears.

Meanwhile, Ivan decided to use this time to think, by visualizing himself on a very certain day in his past.

_He was looking outside a window of a school bus., watching the rain fall onto a lake beside the road he was on. That moment always made him sad._

But he wasn't the only one taking that time for thought. Haystack was doing the same.

_The stallion was sitting on a hill in a forest with luscious trees and a vast blue sky. The cold breeze was brushing against his coat and mane, giving him the chills. He was depressed, and it made him want to get out of that memory, but he decided to stay for awhile._

"And now..."

The sudden announcement made them come out of their trance like soldiers evading a grenade.

"... a message from the dear leader himself!"

"Huh, looks like we're going to get a presentation." Ivan mumbled as he and Haystack watched a flat metal surface rise up in front of them, before it would be illuminated by a movie projector behind them. The first thing that appeared on the screen was this,

A message from our

** DEAR LEADER**

(Brought to you by the state production team and THE DEAR LEADER himself.)

It was presented in a black and white format along with the song, "Sh-boom." by the chords in order to accompany it. The swell song continued to play as the slide changed to one of a middle aged man in a tuxedo, glasses, brown hair and a casual smile standing next to a seal consisting of a hawk with a grey star in the middle. Then a voice jumped in.

"My name is Rogeh Doofenshmihtz. And I am here to ask you a question?" The slide then changed to one of an army of flashing question marks while the man said, "Can we create paradise? No, says the president of the United states..."

The next slide was of George Washington crossing the delaware with Columbia and Uncle sam in the background looking in his direction with the same feeling as him.

"... because you're olready living in it, I think..."

The next slide consisted of all the current European leaders standing tall and firm with the flag of the European union behind them.

"...No, says the leaders of Europe, only the rich are able to..."

The next slide was of Saint peter's Basilica to the left, the kaaba in the middle, and the dome of the rock to the right. All with the sun above them, stretching it's rays down.

"... No says the pope in the Vatican, the prime minister of Israel ,the Dalai lama of Tibet, and the king in Saudi Arabia, only 'God' can..."

The following was of Vladimir Lenin looking over to the sky with pride in front of the Soviet flag as the Kremlin stood underneath him.

"... Yes says the premier of the Soviet union, because paradise is through excessive labor..."

Then the next scene was of Celestia looking down with a smirk on her face as her flowing mane waved behind her like a flag (Even though it was still.) with the Capital city of Canterlot stood right in front of it.

"... And finally, Yes, says the 'Princess' of Equestria. It is through Friendship and love that we achieve it. Well, as you can see, the answers are pretty mixed. And you know what I say to those answers? I reject them all. You know why? Because they're mediocre and pathetic..."

Haystack began to feel certain about Doofenshmirtz's opinion on Equestria.

The slide then changed to one of the hawk and the star in the middle of a grey screen as the music came to an abrupt halt.

"... So I thought, What if you take those pity answers, and perfect them? Well, that's where I come in. Every man, has a choice, so I chose something different. I Chose to secede from these mediocre ideals in search of fixing them. I chose the righteous path..."

The projector turned off as the flat surface slid back down into its hiding spot. That's when the metal wall in front of them began to slide downwards as well. revealing a fraction of the outside.

"I chose... the Tri-state Republic of Danville..."

The outside revealed a vast city with with flourishing lights from left to right.

"Well, whaddaya know, this is it." Ivan mumbled.

"... A city where freedom's hand reaches out towards us unlike what Congress says in the US. Where the poor and the rich are treated equally unlike what Europe's 'Union' says. Where the religious doesn't dare interfere with law and justice like in the Vatican, tibet, Saudi Arabia, or Israel. Where work doesn't dominate the country's prosperity like in the USSR. And where even the independent can live a prosperous lifestyle unlike in Equestria. And if you desire all of this, liberty, hahmony, and prosperity, then this is the place for you."

Then there was silence, making them imply that the speech was over.

Due to this, Ivan made a slight whistle as he marveled at the city in front of them.

"Wow, that's one nice city." He said.

"Huh, remahnds me of New hoof city, the most Metropolitan city in all of Equestria."

"To me it reminds me of New york city. Only that there is no arid land dividing us from it."

They stood quiet for a while since they had nothing to say. So they waited for any further information, but then they decided not to wait any longer.

"Well..." Ivan began to unbuckle his seat belt, "I'm gonna go-"

"Well, be launching into the air in thirty seconds." The woman advised.

"Or maybe not." Ivan said before fastening his seat belt again.

"What were you gonna do?" Haystack asked.

"Open the-"

Suddenly, they heard a noise that sounded like a snake hissing for a long time. Then, they began to feel drowsy.

"What... the... hell?" Ivan struggled to say.

"Due to our strict policy, we're not allowed to show where will this pod be landing on. So you and your partner should embark into dreamland for a while. Have fun!"

"Now... ya... tell... us." Haystack said before being put into a deep sleep.

Then Ivan did the same thing as well.

("Phineas and Ferb" belongs to Dan Povernmire, Jeff Marsh, and Disney.)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Will the circle be unbroken_

_by and by, by and by?_

_Is a better, home awaiting _

_in the sky, oh in the sky?_

_Those were the lyrics that Ivan heard while looking down onto the water beneath him. His legs and his jeans were drenched in the coldness that it was emitting. He then felt someone pat his back before a hand would clench onto his shoulders._

"_Ivan Bentley," He heard a voice of another middle aged man say in a mirthful tone, "Are you ready to be born again?"_

"_Yes." Ivan replied solemnly before glancing at a happy couple whom they were holding hands and smiling joyfully at his decision._

_There was a sound of thunder._

"_Are you ready to erase your past, cleanse your sins, and accept the lord jesus as your savior?"_

"_Yes." He faced the bald-headed pastor, trying to hide his frown with a smirk._

"_That's all I needed to hear." _

_Ivan held onto his nose and as well as his breath while the pastor prepared to dunk him into the water._

"_Now, I baptise Mister Ivan Bentley in the name of Jesus, amen!"_

_He felt the pastor pull him back, making him look at the grey sky above him. The water's coldness began to overwhelm him as he closed his eyes before his head would dive in as well. All he could hear now was the water flowing into his ears, and his breath stagnating. Then, his hand began to pull away from his nose, letting water flow into his nostrils._

"_What?" Ivan thought._

_His hand would feel his other one as they met in his back. Then he felt something constrict him in his wrists. Not only there, but in his ankles as well. _

"_Impossible." He added in his head._

_Whatever was on his ankles, it made him assume that it was connected to something heavy. Why? Because it was pulling him down into the deep. He felt the pastor's arms separate from him as he went deeper. Suddenly, he managed to hear him announce happily._

"_Thank you God for this miraculous day!" _

_Then there was clapping and cheers up above._

"_No, it's not! I'm about to drown! HELP!" He cried in his mind, for he couldn't through his mouth._

_He now couldn't hold his breath any longer, he was on the verge of letting water come rushing into his mouth and flood his lungs. But he also knew, that there was no point in holding on much longer either. So he decided to open his mouth and let death come in._

"_Ahvan?" He heard someone call. And just like that..._

His nightmare was over.

"Wake up, Ahvan."

Ivan opened his eyes to find that Haystack was looking worryingly at him, his right hoof on his left shoulder.

"Woah!" Ivan was stunned at the unexpected sight, "You scared me."

"Sorry." Haystack apologized before saying, "Huh, you musta had a hell of a naghtmare."

Ivan sighed, admitting the truth, "How did you know?"

"You were movin' around a lot, and you even crah'd 'help' ."

Ivan decided not to ask anymore. He unbuckled himself and got up for some stretches, holding onto the package before sitting back down.

"Hey, how long have you been up?"

"Ah don't know." The stallion shrugged as he sat on his haunches, "Bah the tahm ah woke up, the window had already closed."

"Well, guess we're gonna have to wait until-"

Suddenly, the metal surface rose up again before it would be lit up by the projector's light.

"Until that pop's up again?' Haystack asked.

"Yep."

This time, the opening slide said something different. It read,

Another message from the

** DEAR LEADER**

(Recorded live from National hall on May 13, 2008)

(Brought to you by the state production team and THE DEAR LEADER himself.)

Then it changed from a slide to an actual colored motion picture in a flash. It featured Roger Doofenshmirtz standing on a wooden podium with the hawk and star in front. behind him, was the country's flag. It consisted of the state's seal over a red heater shield which was over three blue lines in a white background.

"And so I told the hypocrites in Washington, Cheyenne, Pierre, and Lincoln, that my city as well as many others in the tri-state area want to secede from the Union in pursuit of our own dreams." He stated in his iconic accent, "I told them that I want to create a project for a utopia. They would all laugh at me and say that I was an idiot for creating such an idea.

"However, I chose to secede anyways, not only because of my dream, but because of the people i'll be leading. And so, I then unified all cities in the area into one to commence my project for a better future. Now, it's been five years since I made that one decision. And now we've reached our goal, thanks to all of you."

The crowd began to cheer as the camera cut to a full view of city hall.

"That explains why the borders cover parts of Wyoming and Nebraska." Ivan mumbled to himself.

Then Roger resumed his speech, "This is a nation that was brought to life due to your efforts..."

Then all of a sudden, the walls (Excluding the one with the door) began to slide open, letting the morning light shine in.

"... A nation where every man is equal in the eyes of man. Where liberty burns down oppression, where crime is non-existent..."

When the lights extended even further, it would cause the two to cover their eyes for they were temporarily blinded by it."

"... We are the beacon of hope for humanity..."

That sentence reminded Haystack about how Equestria was the beacon of hope for ponykind as they lowered their arms from their eyes.

"... Because this is Danville!"

The crowd cheered before the clip was over. The metal surface would slide back down after the projector would turn itself off. It gave the two a sign that they were able to observe the city from up above since they assumed that's why they opened the shutters.

They looked down after they reached the glass to find something peculiar down below. On an intersection where the building they were in along with three others, there was police surrounding the area... heavily armed police. Also, there were bodybags that were scattered around them as well as a fire that was burning on the building next to them.

"Huh, it appears that there are some crime around here... and that some crime looks serious."

"Ahvan, look." Haystack suggested that he do pointing his right hoof straightforward.

Ivan looked in that direction to find another thing that feels odd. There was a banner that was hanging from the top of the building in front of them. It read on the top in clear white.

** Heinz Doofenshmirtz**

Beneath that was a painting of an odd shaped man. He had a long nose that would make you think that you were holding onto a pike and dark hair with a head that your mind will say that it looks like a palm tree. He had a grim look on his face as an eyepatch covered his left eye. Under that painting, it simply read,

** Hail to the true creator of paradise!**

"Something tells me that this country is under new management." Ivan assumed.

Haystack looked to his left to find the crime scene down below, "And somethin' also tells me that some of the employees aren't too happy with it ahther."

"We..." The mirthful feminine voice began to speak, stunning the two instantly, "...will be making our descent in ten seconds."

Once the two calmed down Ivan said the first word, "Looks like this is it."

"Yep."

Ivan went back to the chairs and grabbed the package before the announce said, "Five, four, three, two, one."

Then they felt a little jolt on their feet, and before they knew it, the pod was making its descent. Now all they could see was brick as the shutters began to close again.

"So how are we goin' to deliver this to 'Silver fox'?" Haystack asked, using his flexible hooves to quote the codename, "And better yet how are we goin' to get the hell out of here when the mission is complete?"

"I don't know, which is the answer question one. Because I mean, there's no address." Ivan replied, feeling the same way as Haystack until he answered his second question, "And two, it's easy. We're are citizens for free. All we need is a permit in order to leave or move from the country and we're done."

"Oh. Wow, that's easy."

"Yes it is."

"You'll be expecting a big buffet for you and your friend, spouse, relative, or sibling, in celebration of your citizenship. Happy eating!"

"Huh, guess we're gonna have free breakfast as well." Ivan was pretty relieved for that. He hadn't eaten in hours and the rumbling of his stomach that has been nagging him for food throughout the time was proof of that.

"Oh good, ah sure hope they have plenty ta eat." Haystack said excitedly.

"Of course they do, it's a buffet."

They continued to wait until they felt the device hit something below.

"Looks like we're here." said Ivan.

"Bon Apetite, my friends, and Bon sejour in your new life."

The door quickly opened before the duo got up and exited out with the package.

But when they got out, it was the complete opposite of what they were expecting.

"Ugh, I should've known." Ivan said as he and Haystack looked at what in front of them.

The lobby was completely empty with absolutely nothing in it. The only notable things were the marble floors, and the sheet covered glass doors and windows.

"So ah guess there is no buffet." Haystack frowned.

"Like it even matters." Ivan said, ignoring the hunger he was feeling, "Let's just uncover the package's location, deliver it, and get the hell out of here, alright?"

"Alraght."

The two walked side by side before reaching the glass door. Ivan then grabbed the handle and pulled it back, opening the door.

Then after walking in between the two sheets, they found themselves on the sidewalk. And on the street, they found out that heavily armed police were behind their black colored squad cars and pointing their pistols and assault rifles at them. This horrified the two.

And with that Ivan would say to Haystack, "And I should've seen this coming as well."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Quickly, they put their hands/hooves up into the air, with Ivan still holding on to the package

"And without us telling you two blokes to put your hands up." An officer said through his megaphone sarcastically, "Wow, I'm impressed."

Even though the two could see where the office was speaking from, the officer would present himself inside the barricade of squad cars, facing their target. .

"You know, we've been watching your every move, right?" The officer his megaphone.

"Uh, no?" Ivan responded, even though he was now certain that they were, "And shouldn't there be a buffet so that we can eat?"

"If both of you weren't wearing those overcoats and carrying that package, then we could've made one for you and your equine friend." He replied politely.

"I knew he would say that." Ivan mumbled since he knew it had something to do with who they were.

"Whaddaya mean?" Haystack asked the officer.

"I mean, your kind is not allowed here."

"What? Oh come on!" Haystack complained, "We-"

"Enough Haystack, we don't meet their requirements." Ivan ordered.

"And since both of you don't meet our requirements..." Another officer stood next to him, pointing his M4 carbine as the other office got out a P90, both of them aiming at their heads, "...I guess you deserve some to eat someplace else."

_Cl-click!_

Haystack began to shake for he knew that this was the end.

However, Ivan rolled his eyes at the sight

"Duck." Ivan mumbled before leaning forward and charging at the pair.

Haystack did just so placing his hooves over his head as he heard gunshots come from the two officers, making the civilians run and scream. He looked up to find Ivan in the middle of the air, the bullets flying underneath his feet. Ivan would have his feet lean forward, aiming at the officers' faces. They looked in horror before they felt his shoes punch them in their noses, knocking them back and knocking them out. Landing on the ground, he would duck while simultaneously getting out two frag grenade from his overcoat pockets. The officers were slow to aim at his body, by then, he was in the process of biting off the safety pins of both 's when Haystack decided to help, by getting out two grenades as well.

"Grenade!" An officer yelled as Ivan tossed the grenades at two cars in front of him, while Haystack tossed them at the two cars to Ivan's left and right.

_Dakka Dakka! Dakka Dakka..._

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at..._

The officers opened fired, but Ivan would evade the shooting once again by jumping into the air and performing a backflip in the air before grabbing the officers' weapons with his hands as he landed.

"Haystack, catch!" Ivan called out when he landed on his feet before tossing him the P90. The stallion quickly grabbed it with his hooves. Before hip firing at three officers that were running away from the grenade's blast radius. Meanwhile, Ivan grabbed the M16 and shot down two police officers that didn't run and were eager to shoot him from behind both cars' trunks.

_BOOM!_

One by one, the grenades detonated. But by then, the officers were already safe from the blast, leaving their police cars to the duo to use.

"Stop them! Stop them!" An officer yelled as Ivan ran towards the police car to his left for cover.

"Haystack!" Ivan called him, "Cover me!"

He replied with a nod before galloping towards the other police car to his right. But it wasn't long before all the scattered officers were shot down firing from out in the open and letting the bullets fly through their protective gear and either through their vital organs or their heads. So once the premises was clear, they returned to the unconscious bodies and grabbed all the ammo from their pockets.

"Let's get the hell out of here before more cops arrive." ordered Ivan, stuffing magazines in his pockets while Haystack was doing the same.

"Obviously."

The two got up before running to their left and vaulting over the hoods of the squad cars, with the exception that Haystack jumped over it like a hurdle in a race track. Landing on the other side, they resumed their run until they would see a convoy consisting of two Lenco Bearcats and two humvees speed down the intersection and head their way, with sirens wailing.

"Ah crap!" Ivan shrieked before they slowed down and stopped.

Haystack looked to his right to find a building with a double doorway in the middle.

"Let's hide in there." He suggested, pointing his hoof in that direction.

"Oh thank goodness." Ivan sighed relief before following Haystack inside.

They pushed the glass door, only to realize that it was locked.

"Damn, it's locked." Ivan stomped his foot on the floor to express his frustration, "We're gonna have to use a lockpick."

"What?!" Haystack was in utter disbelief by his plan, "Ain't nobody got tahme for that!"

He quickly turned around and bucked his hind hooves onto the glass,, an empty one that covered the entire floor.

"Oh, heh, should've thought of that." Ivan felt stupid about his decision.

The two went inside to find out that they were in a waiting room. Complete with multiple groups of chairs that covered the entire floor and three elevators to the right.

"To the elevator!" Ivan ordered as if he was Batman.

"Seriously? You sound like some sort of superhero." Haystack criticized while coming up with a conclusion to what Ivan was planing.

"I don't even know why I did that." Ivan admitted, "Let's move."

They ran towards the open elevator in the middle. Upon reaching there, Ivan found something rare on the black carpet. It was an imprint of a red cartoon bomb and written over it was the word "RED".

"Yep, things have changed in this 'Paradise'." Ivan mumbled before he heard the sound of boots marching on the floor. They went inside and Ivan would push the button that would take them to the top floor of the building. The door would close up before the elevator made its ascension.

"So it looks lahke we're on the run then." Haystack concluded as they began to reload their weapons.

"Yep. This mission wasn't going to be easy after all. And 'Silver fox's' unknown location was the first sign."

They stood quiet after that, all they could hear was the elevator music as the they felt the elevator ascend through their feet/hooves.

"Does this song sound familiar to ya?" Haystack asked in order to kill the silence between them.

"Nope, must be exclusive to Danville."

"Oh."

They faced the door before it slid open after the ding. Unfortunately, the police seemed to be one step ahead.

"Freeze!" One of the officers yelled as he and his squadron stood firm with their rifles and SMGs pointed at them either by looking through their iron sights or aiming from the hip.

"Well that was quick." Ivan said calmly.

"Whaddaya mean 'quick'? We've already been here." A female officer revealed to them.

"Oh, then why didn't you shoot at us from here?"

"Because we might not reach you from here."

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

They heard the boots stomp on the floor, making them imply that the reinforcements have arrived.

"So why be up here?" Ivan continued to ask, disregarding the reinforcements that were arriving.

"So that dumb ass mercenaries like two don't get away by jumping out the window."

"Great, planned spoiled."

"So by order of the great successor, we have to kill you."

"Really? Can't you just kick us out of the country?"

Haystack became nervous, he knew things will at anytime go south real fast.

"Ugh, The officer you just knocked out already told you that, No!" The officer was growing irritated, as well as her comrades.

"But I think it's much better if you just kick us out of the country."

"No! We have to shoot you dead and that's final!"

"Ok, fine."

"What?" Haystack was shocked at his decision.

"Oh, and after executing us, can you do us a favor and burn this package for us?" Ivan asked as he presented them the package, "I mean since we're going to die and all?"

"Ok then." The officer smirked in a dainty manner.

Haystack in the meantime, shook in fear, realizing that this was the end.

"Here you go." Ivan tossed him the package. Which made the officers glance at it while it soared in the air.

"Sucker." He mumbled before grabbing a distracted officer to his right and placing him in front of him like a shield.

Haystack quickly hid in the elevator as Ivan sprayed multiple rounds at the enemy while they were trying to do the same to him without harming their comrade. Only they failed in that objective entirely. However, the pony didn't leave his comrade hanging, he provided him cover by blind firing in the opposite direction from where Ivan was shooting.

After a couple of seconds, all the officers would drop dead.

"Clear." Ivan proclaimed once the floor was silent, "Even though I should've told you that I got this covered, it was better that I didn't."

Haystack peeked around the elevator to find this statement true, even though he was still quivering in fear.

"Now stop shaking and get up. We need to move."

Ivan grabbed the package from the officer's body.

"Fahne." Haystack stopped shaking and exited the elevator.

"Alright then."

Haystack followed Ivan across the hall and past a double doorway, which led what appears to be a board room with no one inside. Ivan would close the door behind them and use a dead officer's M16 to lock the doors together. He then looked to his left to find the same logo he saw earlier, only it was enlarged and it revealed that it had an acronym.

"Reliable Excavation Demolition." Ivan read, turning to face it while doing so, "Like I said, they changed."

"You never said that." said Haystack in doubt, for he couldn't remember him saying that.

"Oh, right." Ivan forgot about that he said it in a mumble and not out loud.

"Yep. Anyways shouldn't we be goin' now?"

"Nah, reinforcements won't be arriving soon, so we have time. Plus, they'll probably be waiting outside. And we won't be going down there."

He looked behind him to find an electronic news ticker telling them the date.

"April fifth twenty thirty-three." Haystack read.

"Well this is starting to get a little random." Ivan pointed out before turning around, "Let's get- Oh soda!"

"Ah beg yer pard'n?"

He found the bottle of aqua blue soda sitting on the maple colored round table. Picking it up, he turned it around to look at the brand's logo. What appeared was a picture of a smiling pegasus filly with a baby blue coat and eyes of almost the same color. Her mane had the color of white with streaks of turquoise. Underneath the picture, it read, _"SNOWDROP's FURY"_. Below that, it read, _"A product of Reliable Excavation Demolition"_".

"Huh, didn't know RED was making soft drinks. Hell I'm taking this sample." But he quickly remembered about Haystack, "Want some Haystack?"

"Nah, I don't trust company. None of us in Equestria do."

"Oh will you be quiet, your country doesn't trust anyone that has hands and feet. Funny how you trust me."

Haystack wanted to rebut that claim, opening his mouth to do so. However, he closed it, because it was true. He looked down in defeat.

By then, Ivan had already twisted the bottle cap, letting the bottle release air before opening it. He could smell the aroma of ice cold raspberry that the fizzy drink was releasing, and he knew that raspberry was his favorite fruit flavor. It was as if the company was reading his mind. So without hesitation he mounted the bottle onto his lips and poured the sweet liquid down his mouth. The chill and sweetness made him satisfied. In fact he was more than satisfied, he wanted more of it. So he tilted his head back letting the soda pour right in a waterfall.

Glook! Glook! Glook! Glook...

Haystack was quite impressed at how much he liked that drink even though he was still thinking about how little faith the ponies have in the humans.

By then, Ivan had already emptied the bottle, gasping for air once the last of the soda was swallowed.

"Damn, that's one heck of a soft drink." Ivan breathed.

Suddenly, he felt a little a queasy, Nausea was starting to fill his mind as he grew dizzy.

"Ah christ." Ivan grunted as he felt extreme pain in his stomach, making him clench onto it like a n eagle's claw on a branch. "I shouldn't have drank that."

Haystack was in just as much panic as Ivan was, "Uh, don't worry Ahvan!"

"He placed his hoof on his left shoulder for reassurance, "Ah'll go fahnd a first aid kit."

He then went off to find one

Ivan nodded as he felt to feel a burning sensation on his arms and legs. As the pain ensued he looked at his arms to find grave levels of frostbite, turning the skin into a blackish purplish color. On his hands, Icicles were growing on over the frostbite with crackling sounds accompanying it. Then suddenly, his vision started to see things. Gusts of wind started to circle around him and they were all shaped like wolves, howling with every move. But amidst the wind, he saw something else. A silhouette of a pegasus filly heading his way. And he knew quickly, that it's the filly from the bottle. And his prediction was correct once the silhouette faded, replacing it with the colors of baby blue, white, and turquoise. Her body was resistant to the wind as he looked at him with a blank stare.

She held a snowflake in her right hoof before telling him in a soft gentle voice, "Control my power. Control my ability, control my fury."

Then she tossed it across the divide and towards Ivan's left eye. And the chilly spark would make his eye sting before making the pain in general even worse. Worse enough for him to scream in terror, More gusts of wind would soon fly in between them, making her disappear before a loud crack went off. Then in a flash, everything was gone. The icicles, the frostbite, the pain, the wind, and the filly, it was all gone. Ivan painted in relief as he placed his hands on the table for thought of what just happened.

"Ahvan! Ahvan!" Haystack called while galloping towards the boardroom, "You okay, ah heard ya scream!"

"I'm alright, Haystack!" ivan breathed.

"Oh good." Haystack sighed, " 'cuz ah couldn't fahnd any first aid kits anywhere."

"So why come back?"

Haystack looked down in shame, "Sorry sir."

"It's alright. Let's just keep moving."

But while looking down, he found the bottle and the logo was looking at him.

"Snowdrop?" Haystack's shame quickly changed to curiosity.

"Wait, you know the pony on the bottle? As in other than the brand name?"

"Yeah. She's the pegasus filly that showed us that winner was givin' us a gift that we were ignorin'."

"Huh, so she's like a folk hero to you ponies, isn't she?"

"Yep, she gave us a gift just like winter has been, and we must respect her for that."

"Hmm, I guess you're right."

"Yep." Haystack looked at the table to find something else other than the package, "Hey, what's that?"  
He pointed his hoof at the object. Ivan looked in that direction to find out that it looked familiar to him, his face would light up with glee, "Swell, a Playstation Vita!"

"A what now?"

"A Playstation Vita." He grabbed the device and looked at the logo on the back "Now I can bring something home as a souvenir.

"And what about that?" Haystack pointed at a sticky note that was sitting on the table.

Ivan picked it up to read it since from his view, he knew that it was written on as well. It simply said,

If you were dumb enough to drink our Prototype, "Snowdrop's Fury.", Then turn the Vita on for information.

-Redmond

"Alright then?" said Ivan dropped the note before pressing the on button on the Vita.

The screen would light up, revealing a grey background with a black and white version of the logo for _"Snowdrop's fury"_ in the middle, it even had the same copyright claim as on the bottle, only it was black and bold.

Vivaldi's "Spring" began to play before a feminine voice (Which felt suitable for a business) said, "Congratulations, you just drank, 'Snowdrop's fury'! Here are your instructions to wield Snowdrop's secret might..."

"Secret might?" Haystack wondered, for he knew that that was absurd..

On the Vita screen, the slide changed to one featuring a World war two soldier trembling in fear as a man wearing a grey overcoat and black bandana charged at him with rage and a rifle.

"...Say 'Frigidus' in your mind while simultaneously thrusting your hands forward to unleash a blast of powerful liquid nitrogen that is guaranteed to freeze your enemies..."

The next slide featured the soldier doing just that, the enemy would appear suspended with the air with his mouth gaped open in horror thanks to the ice. All while it read, "Try this!" above them.

"...If you want to watch your enemies slip on ice, then say, 'Stagnum' in your head while thrusting your hand onto the any surface..."

The next slide showed the soldier doing the same. The enemy slipping on the frozen pond. The soldier would then give a thumbs up and a smile to display his satisfaction.

"... Have fun, comrade!" The voice said as the next slide read,

**Thank you **

**RED Industries!**

Then the song ended before the screen went into an electricity free darkness.

"Huh?" Ivan wondered before tapping the "on" button again. Even though after doing so, nothing appeared on the screen. He would tap it again, but he received the same result.

"Great!" Ivan said sarcastically as he slammed the Vita onto the table like a folder. It would make Haystack jolt at the sound., "There goes my entertainment.

He found an empty satchel on the floor and so he used it to put the package inside and carry it.

"Come on, let's go." He ordered as he attached the satchels

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

The elevator bells made their hearts race before Ivan would add, "Now!"

The officers began to hit the door in order to break in.

_SLAM!_

They ran towards the window and use their rifle and SMG butts to break through the glass.

They then heard an officer yell, "Stop in the name of our Eden!"

"Quick!" Ivan got out a spear gun with a hook sticking out of the muzzle, "Fire these onto the building across the street."

_SLAM!_

Haystack let out another nod to show him that he'll follow the order.

"Good." Ivan decided to use this time to try and use his new power. It seemed pretty simple, but he had his doubts about if it would work or not.

Meanwhile, Haystack was already aiming for the top floor that was at the same height as the RED boardroom.

_SLAM!_

"Hurry up!" Ivan hastened him, forgetting about wanting to use "Snowdrop's fury" on the officers.

"Alraght, sheesh!"

Haystack pulled the trigger, letting the hook fly towards the other side like a fishing line.

_Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..._

They could hear a buzz saw coming from the door. That made them even more nervous.

"Go! Go! Go!" Ivan yelled before he would hold onto Haystack from the waist. He held on tight as Haystack began to gallop out the window, speargun in teeth. They felt the air breeze past them as they swung towards the other building, making them feel relaxed even when they're being chased by cops. But suddenly, they heard the rope snap and they couldn't feel its pull, And they began to fall in the wrong direction, heading towards the streets below, screaming in horror.

"I should've seen this coming!" Ivan yelled as they flailed their arms and legs in utter panic.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" They screamed in unison as if they were riding a rollercoaster, descending towards a tree.  
"Aaaa- Umph! Ow!" Ivan grunted once twigs and branches began to scratch them, silencing their screams as they landed on the concrete below, back first.

_SLAM!_

Fortunately, their backs didn't break, but Ivan was the first to get up.

"You alright?" Ivan asked as he got up on his two feet.

"Yep." said Haystack as Ivan helped him up, "So, are we goin' to faght our way outta here?"

"Hell no!" was Ivan's frantic response once he noticed the enemy surrounding them from both sides, "We're getting ourselves out of here! Follow me!"

He grabbed his M4 from the sidewalk and aimed it at a window on the building they were next to.

_Rat-at-at!_

The glass shattered onto the ground before Ivan would hop inside, Haystack would follow in suit once after placing his P90 in between his teeth..

"We're not fighting those douchebags." Ivan added, "We're only here to deliver this package."

"Hmm, Ah guess yer raght." He said once he let go of the P90 in his mouth and carrying it in his right hoof.

"Uh huh, so let's go."

Ivan began to look around, noticing that they were in a small room where only a writing desk was inhabiting it.

"Huh, Ahvan, what's thi-"

"Ugh, forget it Haystack. There's no time." Ivan advised as he walked up to the bullet marked door, twisting the knob.

. That's when he felt the object tap his wrist. He turned around to notice that Haystack had a tape recorder in his teeth, and his eyes were telling him that he wanted to know what it was. It was enough to convince him.

"Meh, It's considered stealing, but like it matters. We're on the run anyways. They're called tape recorders, by the way."

He grabbed the tape recorder and put it alongside his ammo in his pocket , "At least we'll learn about how they're living their lives here."

Haystack smiled at his new piece of then followed him out the door and into a lobby, an empty one.

"Well, I guess they must've fled once they heard about what happened." Ivan said without a feel of surprise.

He then spotted the revolving door to his left. Pointing at it, he proclaimed, "But there's the exit."

Relieved, they began to run towards it.

_Rat-at-at-at!_

The glass windows next to the door broke open as bullets flew right through it.

"Crud!" Ivan mumbled before he ordered Haystack to, "Find cover!"

"On it!"

Ivan bolted towards the service counter on the other side of the lobby while Haystack used the counter that was placed next to the elevator which was located to their right.

"STOP IN THE NAME OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!" An officer yelled through a megaphone while ten of his comrades raided the place, scattering themselves across the lobby in order to prevent them from escaping.

"We know you're hiding there!" An officer yelled, "So get out from there with your hands up so we can kill you easily and without hesitation!"

They hid quietly before Haystack began to hear his name, "Haystack."

The pony jolted a little once he heard Ivan's voice on his left ear.

"How're ya talkin' to me?" Haystack choked out.

"Ugh, through an earpiece!" He whispered.

"Oh, raght." He chuckled in embarrassment, "Ah forgot ah had this on."

"Oh you. Anyways, try and negotiate with them."

"Whah do that?! Our looks alone will flip them off. Can't we just run towards the elevator?"

"Nope. That's the only spear gun I had. Whoever shot it down will pay."

"Oh. So are we goin' to faght our way outta here?" Haystack said nervously, unlike the last time he asked him that.

"Teh, duh."

He aimed his rifle upwards and fired three shots at the chandelier above the officers, breaking the chain that hung it.

They were quick to look up, but they weren't quick enough to get out of harm's way. The chandelier would slam onto their heads with brute force, pinning them underneath as the light bulbs that made it elegant shattered into a million pieces.

It was Ivan's signal to attack. He vaulted over the counter before thrusting his left hand forward and saying in his head, _"Frigidus!"_

And at that very moment, he felt something surge in his hand. A cold and rather painful sensation that would rush through his arm like water through a hose. He felt like yelling at that very moment, but all he could do was grunt as the surge ended with nitrogen filled water being released from the palm of his hand which would dart towards an officer who just noticed Ivan's next move.

Within seconds, the officer was struck with the pulse of coldness. But instead of being pushed back, he stood still in utter horror as the nitrogen overwhelmed him and froze him in place. It would create a glacier over the red carpet. Ivan knew what to do next once he witnessed the sight.

"That son of a bitch has a dice!"

"A dice?" Ivan wondered as he placed his body against the cold ice.

_Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! _

He looked behind him to find that Haystack was already making his move.

"Ah Celestia! Snowdrop would never do that!" Haystack exclaimed once he caught a glimpse at the glacier.

"Calm down! It's called marketing, my friend!" Ivan retorted before shooting around cover and taking out two officers to the right with three bullets each.

Once he saw them drop dead, he went back behind cover. Haystack then used that moment to strike. He mounted his P90 on the desk surface again before spraying multiple rounds at the retreating officers before running out of ammo. Fortunately, he was able to shoot down all three of them as they made their escape.

"Haystack, get over here!"

"Yes sir!" Haystack replied as he reloaded his weapon and galloped towards Ivan's position.

"Ok, on the count of three, we go."

"Where?"

"I'll see. Ok, one, two, three, Go!"

The two quickly got out of cover and bolted towards expanded exit, disregarding the revolving door. Unfortunately, they didn't count for what was heading their way. Sirens began to wail again and the audibility was increasing with every second. This surprised the two, for they forgot about the officers in the other building. Fortunately, Ivan knew what to do. He extended his left arm forward and aimed it at the street in front of them.

"_Stagnum!"_ He thought before thrusting his hand forward, unleashing the blast of subzero water towards the street. Once it hit, the thin ice quickly spread across as if it were water.

Suddenly, they began to hear screeching sounds,making them imply that they were attempting to prevent their vehicles from driving over the thin ice. Unfortunately, the efforts weren't good enough. One of the humvees was the first to slip on the ice before turning on its side and rolling down the street. Ivan and Haystack were quick to react. They ran towards it as it was continuing its roll. Fortunately, they weren't shot at as they ran towards the humvee because the other vehicles would follow in the its suit.

"So, are we goin' to-"

"Haystack, we're getting the hell out of here!" Ivan reminded him, "That's all!"

They reached the humvee as they heard loud clashes behind them as if someone was swinging a giant hammer at the buildings. The duo then dealt with the officers who were struggling to get up and recover from the crash by shooting them, of course.

"Haystack, push the humvee back upright!" Ivan ordered.

"What?! But whah me?!" Haystack complained.

"Well you're an 'earth pony', right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And you're a farmer, right?"

"What does that have anything to do with push-"

"Just shut up and do it!"

"Excuse me?!"

"We don't have time for this!" He advised his insulted comrade.

"Don't ever speak like that to me again, you hear that?!" He said angrily, ignoring what he just said.

"Look, I'm sorry." He said with a hint of feeling, "But-"

_CRASH!_

The loud boom was closer than they thought. Their ears began to ring incessantly as the ground shook underneath them, causing them to collapse onto the gravel below. The two knew that the source of that sound was behind them. So, looking in that direction, they found the unexpected.

"DIE IN THE NAME OF THE SUCCESSOR!" A robot the size of three humvees stacked on top of each other yelled in a raspy tone as it looked down on them with red glaring eyes. And the red eyes weren't the only thing that was making them tremble. The robot was made of tin, and had two flexible fists at his disposal. Not only that, but he had a Rocket launcher on his back

"A-Ahvan? S-should w-we get in the h-humvee now?" Haystack quivered.

"N-nope, we RUN!"

And with that, the two quickly bolted out of there before the robot's fist could reach them.

_BOOM!_

The robot's fist would punch the gravel, creating a crater as the impact cause the ground to shake again.

The duo would stumble onto the ground with Ivan being the first to get up, and with an idea as well.

"Hold up!" Ivan yelled as Haystack (Who was feet ahead of him) got up.

"Umph!" Haystack felt something mount onto his back, "Ahvan, what in the hay-"

"Giddyup! We need to get the hell out of here."

"Get off me!" Haystack ordered as he began to gallop instinctively, "I know you humans ride horses , but you can't be serious about-"

"Well, they run-"

"Alraght, alraght!"

"RIGHTEOUS FURY!" The robot yelled as it was gaining on them.

Haystack was quick to notice that however, and so he placed his P90 in his mouth again.

Then, while he was increasing in speed, Ivan had another plan, and so he turned around, hand stretched out.

"_Frigidus"_

The water flew towards the tin man's instead of freezing, the water just splashed onto as if it were regular water.

"What?" Ivan asked himself in dismay.

"_Stagnum!'_

This time, nothing came out.

"What the-" He couldn't understand. It was working before, why wasn't it now?

"BURN IN HELL YOU CURS!" The robot yelled before firing a rocket.

"Crap!" He muttered as he turning around.

The rocket missed by a couple of inches before detonating behind them. The result, was a blast that spread from sidewalk to sidewalk and debris flying into the air.

Ivan in the meantime, watched as a car door landed onto the street at the right time.

"Haystack! There's-"

"Ern it!" The tan stallion knew what he was talking about.

He hopped onto the doors leathery interior before sliding down a slanted area of the street, increasing in speed as sparks flew behind it.

The robot however, stood still near the slope and aimed his launcher before firing.

"Crap!" Ivan shouted as he watched the rocket head towards them. So he got out his M4 and aimed at the Rocket before firing as many rounds as he could. Then, one of them was lucky enough to blow it up in mid air. That's when their ride slowed to a halt just fifty feet from the slope.

They turned around to find the robot putting his launcher away before getting out a large shovel.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!' The robot yelled wildly as he hit his helmet with the shovel like a mongering warrior, before jumping into the air once again.

"Run!" Ivan screamed..

So Haystack did, running away from the robot's landing area.

_BOOM!_

Haystack felt the machine's landing underneath him, before they were flown into the air by the shovel's flytrap like slap.

They both screamed before slamming onto the gravel. However, they were quick to get up before galloping off.

"Crap!" Ivan shouted, "Police blockade, five blocks ahead!"

The two were in shock due to the blockade's formation. Which consisted of eighteen police officers lined up behind three police cars..

"Drmn it!" Haystack muttered before asking, "Whart dr wr dr nrw?!"

Ivan began to think as Haystack galloped past the first block towards their possible demise.

"TO HELL WITH YOU BOTH!" The robot yelled before firing another rocket.

He looked behind him, which killed his train of thought as the rocket flew towards them.

"Ugh, seriously?" Ivan rolled his eyes before aiming at the rocket with his rifle.

"Hrry urp, Arvrn!" Haystack warned.

"Hold- Huh?"

Turns out the rocket was making a beeline above them. The two looked in awe as the rocket flew towards the blockade.

_BOOM!_

And that was the sound of the blockade being completely decimated by the blast.

"Whrt the hell jurst happened?"

"Don't know, don't care." Ivan simply said.

Upon reaching the site, Ivan managed to find what he was looking for. It was an entrance to a subway located on the far right corner of the intersection

"Over there!" He pointed at the entrance, "Now!"

Haystack looked in that direction and galloped towards it. Just by looking at it,he knew that it would lead to another tunnel that wasn't the sewer. Guess the entrance to the country taught him more about how the humans get around. Once he reached there, they went down the stairs and found themselves in front of a line of turnstiles.

"COME OUT OF THERE, ENEMIES OF THE REPUBLIC!"

"Phew, robot can't get in here." Ivan sighed in relief.

"Yep... So, where are we?" Haystack asked after he spat out his P90 and carried it in his right forehoof.

"RIght now, an entrance to the subway station."

"What's that?' Haystack asked curiously.

"You'll know once we get past the turnstiles."

"Can't you just-"

But Ivan would bolt towards the turnstile and jump over it like hurdle.

"Now you go."

Haystack rolled his eyes before doing the same.

"THE INFILTRATORS ARE IN THERE!"

Upon hearing that, Ivan said with total confidence, "That's why, if you were asking."

"Oh, raght." He blushed.

"Alright then, let's get moving."

Ivan began to walk away, prompting Haystack to follow him without asking any questions.

It only took a few steps before they reached the destination.

"This, Haystack, is what you call a Subway." Ivan introduced with a smirk.

Haystack was enthralled once again, his mouth gaped open and his eyes widened as he observed the railway, "Railroads... underground? Impossible."

"Not in our world."

"Awesome." But his enthrallment changed to confusion, "Wait, but whah are we waitin' for a train, if the cops are after us?"

"We're not." He said calmly.

There was a light in the distance, coming from their right.

"Huh, and yer sayin' it as if you knew that train was comin'."

The light was brightening with every second.

"Grab on." Ivan ordered him.

"Wha-"

"Just grab on." He placed his right hand on his hip, making Haystack imply that he needs stick his leg foreleg through and cling on. And so, without hesitation, he did just that.

The train in the meantime, quickly rushed past them, but Ivan was prepared. He got out a small black cymbal from inside his overcoat, while their hair, mane/tail, and overcoat blew in the same direction as the train was going. But that didn't concern Ivan, for he was able to latch onto the train's metal exterior with no problem, using the cymbal's magnetic power.

Haystack held on for dear life as his hind legs dangled beneath him.

Ivan in the meantime, withdrew his feet from the metal, preparing to kick the wide window open.

_SMASH!_

He witnessed the glass break, but that didn't come from his feet. And so he and Haystack swung inside, landing on the marble floor.

"Huh, those are some hooves you have! Without them, it would've took me at least six kicks to break through!" Ivan complemented with a shout since the wind made his speech nearly inaudible.

"What?!" Haystack shouted back.

"Let's get to the next train car!" Ivan suggested.

"That's a good idea!"

And so they did. Walking up to the door before it slid open, granting them permission to enter. Then, after, crossing to the other side, it closed.

"I said," Ivan reiterated for the wind was no longer interfering, "Those are some hooves you have. Without those, it would've taken me at least six kicks to break through."

"Really? Oh. Then how did it break?"

"Ah don't know. But ya know what's odd? Since it's a train, ah expect it to be a little more crowded." Haystack pointed out.

Ivan couldn't help but shrug in agreement.

"And shouldn't we be headin' towards the front of the train?"

"Nope. Danville trains are computer powered."

"Oh." But that generated more questions for Haystack to ask, "Wait, what's a computer? And how do you know this?"

Ivan sat down on one of the seats before letting out a sigh, "To answer your first question, It's hard to explain. To answer your second question, Danville was the first to create the computer powered subway system back in two thousand and five. And that was before they went silent. After two thousand and nine, we never heard from them again."

"Hmm, Ah guess Hahnze takin' o'er was the reason whah."

"Mmm Hmm."

Haystack accompanied him by sitting beside him.

"So, how did you get in debt?" Haystack had to ask.

"How did you get your cutie mark?" Ivan brought up, feeling annoyed at Haystack's question

"Uh, Ah'm not gonna say." He grew nervous

"Then I won't tell you how I got in debt."

"Well played." He muttered.

"Uh huh, just like your information, mine's personal as well." He said straight forward as he sat back, placing one leg over the other and crossing his arms, "So I'm sorry for asking about your info when we were outside Danville."

Haystack had no choice but to accept, "It's alraght."

They continued to sit down awkwardly as they felt the train move underneath their feet/fore hooves. Ivan then decided to lighten the mood.

"Hey, since we're here, we should listen to the tape recorder."

"What's that?"

Ivan facepalmed, struggling to maintain his patience, "The thing you gave me back in the other building?"

"Oh, that, heh heh."

He took the tape recorder out of his pocket and pressed play.

Amidst the static, was the sound of a both relaxed and stressful man, saying, "Roger wanted paradise.. but Heinz wanted power... but it isn't entirely Heinz's fault... Roger ran this place to the ground... Starting with that termination of program to terminate imagination. Not exactly what Roger wanted, but he passed that law anyways... Then that douchebag Heinz took over... and it all went even more downhill from there... Ugh, it's January first, twenty thirty-three... and that'll be the day that the first man was able to flee from this hellhole... which is me of course... Damn, cigarette's out. I'm gonna need another one in order to not worry about the heavily guarded borders. And this recorder will be left right here, for anyone to understand what i'm doing."

The man let out a sigh, "You can't just say that you want to leave the city anymore."

The recording ended.

"Huh, looks like permits won't get us out of here." Ivan concluded.

"Hmm hmm."

They were quiet again, which made Haystack want to look around. While exploring the empty cabin, he found something on the red leather seat across from him.

"Ahvan, it's another one of them 'Vitas'."

Ivan looked in the direction he was pointing at and found it.

"Huh, that's odd."

Ivan then walked up to it and grabbed it. What made it even more odd, was that there was note attached to that one one as well. Which read,

If you now learned about the name for

"Snowdrop's Fury" (Which is DICE), then watch this video."

-Redmond

"Alright then." Ivan turned the Vita on.

When the grey screen appeared, it displayed the logo to RED industries. Underneath that, it read, "**What is DICE?"** in bold georgia font. In the background, Vivaldi's "Spring" played, lightening the mood a little.

"What is DICE?" The feminine voice returned to say as a triplet of Question marks appeared on the next slide, "Well, DICE is an acronym..."

"I knew it." Ivan muttered under his breath as the next slide featured the word DICE in bold white.

"... for DNA, Infusing, Combat, Enhancers. Meaning that you'll sacrifice your genetic structure for an Advantage on the battlefield..."

Ivan rolled his eyes in irritation, "Ugh, I don't need the definition, the acronym explains it."

".. However..."

The next slide featured the soldier from the previous video have his arm stretched out as a drop of liquid seeped from his hand. The soldier was confused on what was happening, even expressing it with a scared look and three question marks over his head.

"... If your DICE isn't working, then that means that you've run out of Energy...'

"Hey i'm not out of energy." Ivan muttered.

The soldier would say in a word bubble, "What's Energy?"

"Exactly!"

"... Well, my friend, this isn't your typical energy. This energy is used to recharge your DICE..."

"Oh." said Ivan.

The soldier smiled as the bubble read "Ooooooh!"

The slide then changed to one of a bottle of water. Next to that was the logo for Snowdrop's fury. All with an Equal sign in between them.

"...However, All DICEs require energy from a different source. For example Snowdrop's Fury needs fresh water to replenish. The more you drink, the more Energy you gain!"

The next slide was of the soldier drinking water before firing Snowdrop's fury towards the left. The soldier would then smile and give out a thumbs up.

"Have fun Comrade!"

**Thank you,**

**RED**

**Industries!**

The video then went to black, Implying that the short film was over.

"Well, not only was my genetic code toyed with..." Ivan sighed as he placed the Vita back onto its original resting place, "... But another Vita just died. At least I know how to recharge my 'Dice' now."

"Hey Ahvan, have you noticed that the train stopped movin'?" Haystack asked as he remained sitting down.

"Huh? Whaddaya-"

He noticed it too. The train was perfectly still, and they were on top of a bridge that spanned from one end to the other end of a lake.

"Since when did this happen?"

Suddenly, the lights would turn off, with the power winding down.

"Ah don't lahke the looks o' this." Haystack quivered as Ivan stood firm..

Then, flat screen TVs began to slide horizontally from every corner of the car. The screens then lit up with the grey background. But instead of the logo from RED, it was the State seal of Danville with the words "PLEASE STAND BY" in bold white. The sound of a trumpet in E major played before the chirpy female voice came in and said,

"And now, a message from the great successor, Vanessa Doofenshmirtz!"

"Vanessa Doofenshmirtz?" they asked each other.

The next thing to appear on the screen was an image of a woman with a half open eyes while smirking with lipstick covered lips. She had hair that made them imply that it was long and dark. And along with her pale face, it made Ivan assume that she was goth.

Then, there was a voice, a husky one. Not the kind of husky that made you think she was a sexual deviant, but the kind of husky that made you think that she is not to be messed with.

"So, the pod was discovered by two mercenaries. How interesting... Look, I know that under that clothing, you both are a bunch of government fools spying on our land. So who do you work for, huh? CIA? MI-Six? KGB? Oh, I forgot. Celestia would never work with the Soviets... or would she? Anyways, it doesn't matter. I know that your plan was to come here and escape, but I won't let that happen. Because I won't let you ruin my father's creation!"

The screen went to black. While that happened, the sound of helicopter rotors were heard.

"Uh oh." Ivan said, aware of the choppers.

_Shwooooom!_

_BOOM!_

They (And the shattered glass) began to fly into the air as smoke and fire arose in the sky. They felt weightless before the wind would pin them against the floor.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" They screamed again before the roof would crash onto the water below, sending them flying towards it like books slamming on a desk, as water rushed in.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_A music box was played a soft lilting tune in Haystack's head. It felt sweet to listen to it, making him want to sleep even more._

_Then, there was an aggressive knock on the door downstairs accompanied by the chant of an angry mob. _

"_SINNER! SINNER! SINNER! SINNER..."_

_Due to this, Haystack opened his eyes, revealing onto him a grey wall. After sitting up, he noticed that the window to his right wasn't showing what was outside. Instead, the view was blocked by an opaque bright light._

"_**GRANNY SMITH?!" **__A Demonic voice yelled in utter rage, "__**GRANNY SMITH!"**_

"_What?" He grew affright as his heart raced._

"_**GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!"**_

"_W-Whaddaya want?!" He heard an elderly mare ask in fear._

"_**YOU KNOW WHAT WE WANT, YOU HAG!"**_

_Haystack left the bed and began to walk out the door._

"_**WIPE AWAY THE DEBT, TO WIPE AWAY HIS SIN!"**_

_That one sentence terrified him as he walked down the hallway (Which was as colorless at his room)._

"_Well, we could pay it off if ya ended the boycott on our apples!" She retorted._

_Haystack descended down the stairs in slow paced steps._

"_**YEAH, BUT WE PONYVILLIANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT HELP YOU!"**_

_He stood in the center of the living room._

"_Then leave us alone!" Granny Smith choked up as she began to cry._

_Haystack in the meantime, ignored her, and headed for the door._

"_Big Macintosh! What the hay are ya doin'?" The elderly mare called out with concern._

_He placed a hoof on the door before turning to face Granny smith. She had tears streaming down her face as she sat on her haunches, comforting a much younger mare who was looking at a puddle, a puddle she created with her own eyes. The image was strong enough to break his heart. But, he had to suck it up. And with that, he answered, "Fixin' what ah just started."_

_He pushed the door laggardly, letting a grain size of the outside light inside. Suddenly, somepony stopped him, grabbing onto a foreleg with a hoof. He then turned around to see who it was. However, the pony's eyes were too bright to reveal his or her face. They were even bright enough to knock him out. And so the darkness resumed as he lay on the floor._

He felt water overwhelm his body (Excluding his muzzle and eyelids) as he felt a rush of energy giving him the power to open his eyes.

"Damn you Haystack! Don't fail me now!" He heard Ivan's voice call out through the earpiece. as he felt a sharp sting on his left foreleg.

Once Haystack was fully awake and aware of the situation, he said, "Ugh, What a dream."

"Doesn't matter, let's get the hell out of here!" Ivan said as he let the empty syringe float away.

"Yes sir. Oh, and what am ah wearin'?"

"Oxygen mask, with built in googles..." He began to swim out the window with Haystack behind him, "... Well, mines is. Yours is just separate. Also, both feature a water drainage system. I don't know how it works and I don't ask, I'm just happy that it works."

They began to swim upwards as the subway train sank to the bottom of the lake.

"And how are still talkin' to each other? Can't human technology get damaged in water?"

"Not all tech. Some of it is waterproof, like the earpieces we have on. Also, I forgot to mention that the masks have built in communicators. So that's another reason."

"Huh. Also, you know that they'll be waitin' for us up there, raght?"

"That's why we're not heading that way. Are you even looking at the direction we're going?"

Haystack then realized that they were going in another direction.

"Oh, raght." He said, mentally scolding himself for this recent mistake.

"Hmm, So, any other questions?" Ivan asked openly.

With that, his dream would return to his mind, "Uh, yes, can ah ask you somethin' personal?"

"I thought we had a deal."

He didn't forget about what he just him back at the train. However, that wasn't going to prevent the earth pony from asking.

"What-"

"I said, we had a deal." Ivan was getting annoyed, "So it's best that we don't talk about it."

"Yes sir." He nodded with shame.

After awhile, they managed to reach the shoreline, and they remained quiet throughout the time. Upon arrival, they stood on their feet/hooves and took off their oxygen masks. But what they found on the shore was a surprise, it was a vast crowd of people looking at them with awe and fear.

"Ahvan, whah are they lookin' at us lahke that?" Haystack muttered to him.

"A better question would be, why are they wearing lab coats and Overalls with letter D's on them? Come on, let's go."

They proceeded up the sandy slope as the civilians watched their every move, making Haystack a little uncomfortable.

Once at the top, a parking lot would appear, where it was filled entirely of cars that dated back to twenty-thirteen.

"Huh?" He muttered as he felt something pull his overcoat like a puppy.

The duo turned around to find a little girl who quickly looked away, hiding her face behind her blond hair.

"E-excuse me sir." She asked in quietude.

"Yes?" Ivan said with sympathy as Haystack only watched with the same feeling.

"Um, Troy w-wanted me t-to give you this." She handed him a walkie talkie.

"Oh?" He politely took it from her hand before she quickly ran off.

"Huh, shy, isn't she." was all Haystack could say.

Ivan ignored that, and observed the walkie talkie which had yet another sticky note attached. It made Ivan roll his eyes again.

On the note, it simply read,

Turn it on.

And so he did, once he threw away the note of course.

"Uh, Hello?" Ivan asked as he held it in front of his mouth.

"Ah, Ivan Bentley! Nice to meet you!" the man on the other side said with such greatness to hear from him.

"Uh, how do you know my name?"

*Static*

"What the-"

A brief tune played on the loudspeaker, which was located in the middle of the parking lot. It would then be replaced by a female announcer with the voice of urgency.

"Friends, two infiltrators are on the loose in our fair city..."

"I think they know that we're not dead." Ivan said.

"Ya think?" said Haystack to the obvious remark.

"... These mongrels have murdered more than thirty of our comrades, and one of them yields the power to create ice..."

"Huh?" He muttered as the tugging returned. And so they turned around to find the same girl from earlier hide timidly behind her hair again.

"Um... M-my Dad... says that-"

"It's okay, Maribelle." A man contemplated behind her, "Now, open the them."

She ran past the two and opened the door of an SUV to their left, hiding behind the door itself.

"Get in." The man said to them, "And I recommend that your Equine friend go in the back.

"... I repeat, All citizens are told to stay indoors until the matter is resolved. Please have in mind that no matter how much of our comrades we lose, we, the people of Doofania..."

"Doofania?' Ivan questioned as he went inside as the man opened the backdoor for Big Mac.

"... will stand strong."

*CLICK!*

After they were seated, and all doors were closed, they left the parking spot.

"So, why didn't they call the cops?" Ivan asked with that in question.

"Huh?" The man asked.

"Because unlike Caesar's Rome, we're not brainwashed. However, they're not that experienced in combat." The voice on the other side said, "So, now that you're here. Let me introduce you to Davey and his daughter Maribelle. They are a part of the resistance."

"Oh good, what a cliche." He muttered.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"In every totalitarian nation, they'll always be people opposing the dictator."

"Huh, true that."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_BAM!_

"Madame Doofenshmirtz!" An officer wearing a black overcoat and service cap cried after slamming the door open.

"Yes, General Wesley?" Vanessa replied as she sat on her lab chair.

"Divers were sent into the water to-"

She interrupted, "Never mind that! Did you order the chopper pilot back to base."

"You mean the pilot that fired the missile?"

She nodded, her serious demeanor showing.

"Yes Madame, why?"

She let out a sigh before getting up from her seat and separating herself from her chrome desk. She then walked up to a window, with the sun beamed down on her pale face.

"Commence a surprise inspection on all of your pilots. Looks like another resistance bloke just infiltrated our military."

"But do you have any proof of that?"

"Didn't you just order the pilot to destroy the train?"

"Oh… But Madame, what about the infiltra-"

"Comrade Helene just announced it to the public, and Comrade General Eckler is rallying his troops into downtown."

"So you think they're still alive?"

She looked at him with disgust.

"Oh, right."

Another sigh escaped her mouth, "Just do as I say."

"Yes Madame." He closed the door, leaving her alone.

Vanessa in the meantime, stood where she was; Growing pensive as she looked at the city below.

"So that's why the chopper blew our ride off the bridge." Ivan responded as Davey drove up to an intersection, stopping once the light turned red.

"Yep, consider yourself lucky."

"Mmm Hmm." Ivan said, appreciated at the news, as well as Haystack, thanks sir."

"You're welcome. Anyways, there's a reason why we did so."

"What is it then?" His mind returned to the subject matter.

"That package is critical to our cause-"

*Static*

"Damn it." Ivan muttered as he slammed the walkie talkie onto his now dried lap, "Again?"

"Ah, don't mind that." Davey said, trying to ease Ivan's frustration, "Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, controls every communication device in Dan- I mean, Doofania."

"Ugh, that explains it. And since when was Danville called Doofania?"

"Since Roger's brother Heinz took over of course. Haven't you learned a little history? After a coup, the country's name always changes."

Ivan shrugged at that, trying to remember every country that did so.

Then the light turned green, signaling Davey to go on. And in order to not create an awkward silence, Ivan asked,

"So how long have you and your daughter lived here?"

"Since we were born, my friend."

"And when was that?" Ivan looked out the window, to find many civilians entering into their homes and businesses.

"You mean me or Maribelle?"

"Uh, you sir."

"Two thousand and six. My parents immigrated to here from Michigan a year before that. They heard about Roger's ideals of a better life, that's why they went there. Huh, but Utopia's change for the worse. Like they say, 'There's no such place, as paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the Earth, there's nothing there.' "

The streets were now empty as they drove into an alley.

"Isn't that the truth? Oh, and your parents?"

"Dead." Davey sighed with grief, "Executed in twenty fifteen for protesting against Heinz's new Labor laws. And they did it in front of my face."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Said Ivan, his heart going out to him.

"It's alright. Time rots everything."

"Agree."

Davey pushed the brakes, stopping the car.

"We're here." He announced.

"Uh, Exactly where?" Ivan asked, with Haystack paying attention.

"Where Troy wanted me to take you. Let's go."

"Alright then."

And so the four of them exited the vehicle before looking at the building in front of them through a backdoor. After Davey unlocked the door, he opened it to reveal a short corridor inside. Then, at the end of the corridor, was another door. Fortunately, it wasn't locked, so Davey simply opened it without a problem. On the other side, was a vast empty room, with a counter near the far right corner.

"Odd. I was expecting this place to have more people." Said Ivan, unsurprised at the room's vacantness.

"That's because it isn't supposed to be."

"Oh. Well would you explain why?"

"Later." He stepped forward, holding onto Maribelle's hand as she walked to the counter, "But first I want to give you the following."

He got down on one knee and began to grab what was on the shelves behind the counter.

"Ahvan!" Haystack called.

"Yes Haystack?" Ivan responded.

Davey found it surprising that the Equine finally spoke, but he had to focus at the task at hand.

"Do ya know what Blahthe's Stahle is?" He asked as he looked at the faded logo in front of him.

"Uh, no." Ivan said, unfamiliar with it either, "Must be another Danville exclusive."

"It is." Said Davey, "Sadly, thanks to the coup, Blythe's Baxter's career quickly crashed shortly after takeoff. Anyways, this is what Troy wanted me to give you."

They walked up to the counter, but not without Haystack grabbing what was sitting underneath the logo. On the counter, were two SIG pro pistols and fifteen magazines for each of them. Along with that, were four water bottles, filled up and potable.

"Huh." He said, "Why give us this?"

"Act of Generosity."

"Oh." Then something crossed his mind, "Thanks, because our weapons we did have are now underwater."

"You're welcome." Davey clearly ignored that, and was pleased to provide his new comrades some weapons, "Oh, and take the guns and water now, we're heading upstairs."

"What? How?" He looked at the boarded windows, to hear troops patrolling their streets, their boots providing him the evidence, "Haven't you notice that we're on the run?"

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM…_

"COME OUT, YOU FOREIGN RATS!"

He then looked back at Davey as the ground shook, "Especially by that robot."

"Ugh…" Davey rolled his eyes, "You'll see. C'mon Maribelle."

"Huh?" She squealed after looking away from the window.

"Let's go." He said with a gentle smile.

"Oh, ok." She held onto his hand before they walked to a door across the counter.

"We'll be waiting for you both inside. Just come on over when you're ready."

"Yes sir."

And so, Davey opened the door, and they went inside.

"Have you noticed that the girl is awfully quiet?" said Haystack, who was observing the girl since they came in.

"And…" Ivan said with annoyance to his obvious findings, "… You have a problem with that?"

"Uh, no, I-"

He handed him one of the pistols, "Just let her be. You don't know what that poor girl went through."

"I'm not saying that-"

"I know, so don't make it worse."

"Ok Ahvan." He nodded in obedience and regret.

After grabbing the ammunition and the bottles of water, they went into the room (Which was as empty as the shop) and met up with the father and daughter.

"So how do you expect us to get out of here then?" Ivan asked.

"Look at what's in front of us." Said Davey as he showed him a small door that was planted on the wall.

Meanwhile, Haystack took a brief glance at the girl, who quickly shied away at the sight. And that made his heart sink.

"Oh, there's a dumbwaiter in there, am I right?"

"There was." He opened the small door, revealing nothing but a brick wall, "That means, we're going to climb our way up there."

"Great." Ivan groaned.

And so, they proceeded up the narrow chute, It didn't take long, fortunately, for they were able to climb up with ease, regardless of their situations. Once up there, they found themselves in a grey colored bedroom, with nothing but a small bed in it. It made Haystack struggle to hide his discomfort.

"Welcome to my daughter's room." Davey proclaimed once the quartet was on their feet/hooves.

"Really? I'd expect to be more… girly." Ivan was dumbstruck by the aesthetics to the empty room.

"Well, that's not what Doofenshmirtz wants." He admitted.

"Oh." Once again, the revelation shocked him.

Then a few moments later, there was a yawn from the little girl, "Daddy, can I go to sleep now?"

"Sure Sweetie." He answered kindly.

With that, she walked up to the bed and climbed up, before resting her pretty little head on the fluffy white pillow.

"_Huh, that was quick."_ Ivan thought as he and the others began to hear soft snoring come out from the little girl's mouth.

"Ok then, let's go." Davey suggested, insisting that she'd be left alone, "Are you both hungry?"

"And so, if you see one man and one pony, together, call our comrades to that location." The radio announcer reminded, "These foreign rats are extremely dangerous to our society and must be stopped. And with your help, we can exterminate them from the promise land."

"Expect Troy to be back on the airwaves in no time." Davey said as they sat together in a wooden round table, "So let's eat."

They pinched their forks onto the lettuce before lifting it up to their mouths (Well, except for Haystack. he just placed his muzzle into the bowl and chowed down). The three were dining on a salad of lettuce, carrots, and croutons (With apple juice to drink). It was the only thing Davey had in the fridge. Fortunately, though, they saved some for Maribelle.

"Uh, Davey?" Haystack asked after lifting his muzzle from the bowl.

Davey swallowed his food, "Yes sir?"

"Whah is Maribelle qu-"

Ivan was quick to hear that and quickly slapped his hand onto the pony's mouth. He should've known that that would happen.

"Oh heh heh." Ivan chuckled, "Please excuse my comrade. I-"

"You know, I would've been happy to answer that question."

"Oh." He slowly lifted his hand from Haystack's mouth, giving him a cheeky smile to signal his embarrassment, "Sorry."

Haystack on the other hand, wasn't amused.

Then Davey answered the question, "I don't know, that's how she grew up. To be honest, I'm not actually her father."

"_Well that's new."_ Ivan thought, unsurprised by that as he chewed two on two onion flavored croutons in his mouth.

"I found her in the wheat fields outside the city about a year ago. And there's a reason why I took her in, instead of giving her up for adoption."

Ivan swallowed the chewed up croutons, "Because adoptions take a long time to carry out?"

"Not exactly, if Doofanian troops found her, they could've taken her to work in a factory in Jepsen town."

They nearly choked due to the bombshell.

"Well…" He rubbed his chin as he thought that through, "... They wouldn't actually throw her in a factory and make her work right away. They would teach her the basics and then make her work on those basics, and bump her up the ladder as the years go by. But yeah, it's still shocking.

"Anyways, because of her. I had to quit my job."

"Whah do that?" Haystack asked, once he swallowed his food.

"Because you can't just tell them that she's your daughter. They'll run DNA tests on her."

"And how did you quit your job?" Ivan asked, predicting the next revelation.

"By not showing up at work and being hunted down for not doing so."

"So how were you able to live here?"

"Through the owner. Then he died of natural causes two months ago. Now I own the home."

"Bummer." Ivan had nothing to say, but that, "So all that led you to join the resistance."

He nodded.

"Hmm, and all just to protect a little girl."

"Yep."

"Well, you're doing the right thing, sir." Ivan complemented, "So how were you able to evade troops?"

"Dying my hair brown."

They never knew, so that was clever.

"Cool." Said Haystack.

Then, the next song played on the radio. It had a very jazzy, rat pack-like tune to it. And the lyrics simply boasted about Heinz's benevolence.

"The saddest thing about it though, is that she can't go anywhere, only the factory."

"Whaddaya mean?" said Ivan.

"It means that they have her files, and they know the parents who abandoned her. If they find her, even at school, they'll easily take her away from me. That's why I keep her around, she can be a very helpful hand."

"Damn, but can those files be burned?"

"Maybe." He shrugged, "If you can find 'em."

*Static*

"Ivan? Are you there?" Troy called, prompting everyone in the dim-lighted room to pay close attention.

Ivan then picked the walkie talkie up from his belt, "Uh, yes sir."

"Good. So like I was saying, there's a reason why we let you live."

"And that is?"

"The reason is that we and your boss agreed to help you find Silver fox in exchange for, certain favors."

Ivan let out a sigh, for he knew where this was going, "What kind of favors?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So it's-"

"Shhh." Davey hushed before pointing at what Ivan was about to disrupt with his voice.

"Oh, sorry." Ivan whispered, "Anyways, it's simple, burn the files, and they'll give us the Intel, correct?"

"You do realize that you reiterated what he said, right?"

"Ugh." Ivan groaned, "Just be happy that your foster child is going to have her entire past erased."

However, they recognized that it still wouldn't benefit her, due to the country's strict guidelines. So they also knew what that meant.

"I'll try to be."

Ivan looked outside to find the alley as empty as it was when they went inside, "Are you sure your plan to get will get us out of here will work?"

He then looked at three red shaped pills that were on his hand.

"I guarantee you, it will." Davey said with a trustful manner.

"Alrighty then, it was nice knowing you."

"It was nice knowing you too. Good luck out there, for the Sactra Fructum!"

"Excuse me?"

"It's the name of our resistance group."

"Oh." He titled his head to look past Davey and face his comrade, "C'mon Haystack."

The tan earth pony was looking rather somber as he gazed at the slumbering Maribelle.

"Haystack?"

There was no response.

"Haystack!" He raised his whispering tone, snapping him out of his daze.

"Uh, wha-" He stuttered as he blinked frequently.

"Shhh." Davey hushed again.

"Oh, sorry." He defected to whispering in an instant, "What was that, Ahvan?"

"Let's go."

"Oh, ok." He nodded.

Quietly, Davey unlocked the window before sliding it open, letting a cool blast of air in. He then let Ivan go right through it. Once outside, Ivan turned his entire body around and grabbed onto the head jamb above. After letting his feet dangle in the air, he used all his might lunge his left hand towards the roof's edges. Upon success, he lunged his right hand upwards and let the arm land on the edge before using both (Including his feet) to climb onto the rooftop.

"Your turn, Haystack." Davey told Haystack once he noticed that Ivan was on the roof.

Then the pony did the same, and in no time, they were side by side.

"Swell, good thing you didn't need to sing a song in order to encourage you."

"Whaddaya mean, song?" Haystack asked in a suspicious manner,

"Meh." Ivan shrugged, "Just a common joke in the US."

He then placed the Vita in front of him, "Alright, let's see what the pills do before choppers catch us."

After pressing the on button, the first thing that appeared (Other than the grey screen) was a black outline of a man, while French Accordion music played in the background. On the screen, the word "CLOAKING" appeared underneath the man in the usual Georgia font.

The feminine voice returned, as the next slide showed the soldier hiding behind a brick wall while three rebels were on the other side, waiting for him to come out.

"Drink your cloaking pill in order to sneak past the enemy."

The soldier began to swallow the pill with water as one of the rebels yelled (Through a speech bubble), "We're coming for you in three…"

"Once you drink the pills, say "Invisibilitatem' in your mind. And you will be completely invisible to the naked and mechanical eye. To uncloak, just say 'Visibilitas'."

The next slide showed the rebels on the other side, but the soldier was nowhere to be found. Question marks would hover over them to express their confusion.

"Warning: Pill wears off after three minutes. To conserve that energy, do not cloak for that long. Second Warning: Firearms and Melee weapons are useless during cloaking."

The soldier appeared on the other side, while simultaneously smiling and giving a thumbs up.

"Have fun, comrade."

The usual, "Thank you, RED industries" tagline appeared on the last slide before the Vita turned completely off.

"Well, there goes another one." Ivan said before tossing the device off the building and onto the alleyway below, "So, let's do what the Vita told us."

"Yes sir."

And so, they got out the pills Davey gave them, and dropped them (Haystack one) into their gaping mouths. After doing that, they got out their bottled water and let it flow right in. Suddenly, they began to feel something tingly in their brains, making them feel dizzy. Their vision began to see red and black lines fly everywhere while their ears began to ring.

"Ahvan?" Haystack asked dizzily.

"Yeah?"

"Do ya see what ah see?"

Then in a flash, their hallucination was gone.

"Not anymore, my friend." Ivan said in a coolheaded manner, "Do you."

"Nope." He nodded.

"Excellent. So, do you know parkour?" He asked as he looked to the right, facing the building that was a story higher than the one they were on.

"Duh. I was taught that in training camp."

"Alright then. Let's go." He bolted towards the edge before jumping off. He flew over the alleyway before reaching the other building, making his hands cling on to the edge before climbing up. Haystack would follow and do the same thing.

From there, it was rinse and repeat for the next twenty five buildings since there was nothing on them but flat rooftraps.

"Haystack?" Ivan called through the earpiece.

"Yeah?"

"Why were you feeling uncomfortable in Mari-"

He suddenly remembered the deal as they jumped over another alley.

"Because it remahned me of whah am ah here." He said, remembering about the dream he had.

"Oh. But I don't need to know."

They jumped over to the next building.

"Ok. But can ah ask you a question?"

"Is it the question from when we were underwater?"

"Yes, it is."

He remembered what he said to him back there, but he knew that it's for the best that they get to know each other, even though he was reluctant on to do so, "Fine, I'll let you ask."

"So that means the deal is over?" He said with a hint of confidence.

"No, but I'll let you ask this one time."

"Ok." He agreed, his tone then changed to one of seriousness, "Do humans have to pay in order to wahpe away a sin?"

"No, we're just told to repent."

"Huh."

"Does that go for every 'sin'?"

They jumped over another alleyway.

"No, just the one ah've commited"

Ivan didn't say anything after that, he just took it into consideration.

They were now prone on the last building near the beach, looking at the enemy below with binoculars, observing their positions.

"Ugh, should've known that this would happen." Ivan groaned, "'The great successor' would obviously be very paranoid about this."

"So, how do you expect us to get across?"

Ivan found an occupied charcoal colored motorboat just sitting on the shore. It consisted of two soldiers. One was holding onto the HMG upfront, the other was on the driver's seat, looking into the scope of a sniper rifle while it was mounted on the steering wheel.

"Using our cloaking devices and getting on that boat over there." He pointed at it to show Haystack.

"Good idea." Haystack complemented as he looked at it, "It's better than parkourin' our way 'round it."

"_Invisibilitatem!"_ They thought.

And in a moment's notice, their bodies began to lose its visibility, revealing a burgundy silhouette of themselves.

"Alright, let's go."

They got up and leaped from the building, landing onto the streets below. Getting up from the land, they ran across the street, running past the advancing troops.

Arriving near the boat, they climbed aboard.

"Ok, take out the man on the HMG out." Ivan ordered in a whisper once they were on the deck, "I'll take out the driver."

"Yes sir." Haystack replied in the same whisper, but nervously.

They split up to take down their guarded prey. Upon arriving behind the enemy's position, they quickly thought, "_Visibilitas!"_

And with a wind-like sound, they began to see their knife carrying hand/hoof appear along with the rest of their bodies. Unfortunately for Ivan, it didn't go unnoticed. The soldier quickly left his sniping position before springing towards him with a machete. Haystack on the other hand, was lucky enough to wrap his hooves around his target before pulling it back.

Ivan's target on the other hand, swung his machete downward as hard as he could. Ivan was able to dodge that strike with ease, giving him an advantage. He threw the combat knife directly onto the enemy's back like a dart. With that, he soldier collapsed onto the floor without screaming in pain. In fact, he just laid there, eyes and mouth open wide, and a pool of blood underneath.

"Yep, he's dead." Ivan muttered before looting his body for sniper rifle (M21) ammo, "And I'm taking his rifle."

Haystack on the other hand, slid his knife's blade through his helpless prey's throat. The sight of it spooked him a little as he gently laid him flat on the deck.

"Ah'm sorry sir." He mumbled with sympathy in his voice before holding onto the HMG's triggers.

"Haystack, you're good?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, I recommend that you take the guy's M16 and the ammo for it. You might need it." He suggested as he replaced his M4 ammo with the M21's.

"Mmm Hmm" And so he obeyed the order while Ivan began to start the boat's engine.

Once he saw that Haystack was ready to go, he pulled the lever onto reverse before pushing the gas pedal with his right foot. He then turned the steering wheel to the right, causing the boat to turn its aft to the left.

*Static*

"Jack, where are you going?" a soldier asked through the slain driver's radio.

"Uh oh." Ivan pulled the lever up to drive before steering the wheel to the left.

"Jack?! Get back- Aw crap, it's the infiltrators! Get them!"

"Son of a bitch." Ivan muttered before contacting Haystack, "Haystack, get ready to fire that HMG! We're going to have company!"

The stallion gulped in anxiousness before looking through the HMG's iron sight, "C-copy that."

"Here they come!" Ivan announced as two other PT boats raced towards their position.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

"AAAAAGGGHHH!" Haystack yelled while firing multiple rounds at one of the boats beside him. He was able to shoot down the HMG wielding soldier with two bullets to the chest.

_BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_

One of Ivan's bullets was lucky enough to hit the driver in the face.

"Whoa, Haystack!" Ivan said, annoyed by his yelling, "This isn't Vietnam!"

"Ah know! Ah'm just nervous!"

"Well, uh, try not to be!"

"Yes sir!"

_Rat-at-at-at-at!_

_Twang…_

Ivan crouched down, still holding onto the wheel and gas pedal.

… _Twang! Twang! Twang! Whoosh!_

"Haystack!"

"On it!" He turned the HMG to the other side, firing at least five rounds at the soldier before shooting him in the head.

While his head was down, Ivan found an M79 on the floor.

"Huh, how come I didn't notice that before?"

"Ai!" The driver grunted as a bullet sunk into his chest.

"Tango down!" Haystack yelled as he watched the boat slow down.

"Perfect!" Ivan shouted. .

Then, there was the sound of choppers.

"Ahvan?"

"Yeah?" He pressed a blue 'Auto-drive' button located on the steering wheel while loading the M79 with the grenades found.

Haystack let out another gulp, "We're screwed!"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

The bullets splashed into the water before some of them would pound on the deck. By then, the launcher was filled up and ready to use.

Haystack in the meantime, wasted no time and pointed the HMG upwards, opening fire at the UH-60 Blackhawk.

"Arrgh!" The soldier manning the left turret groaned in pain.

Then, Haystack focused his fire on the chopper's back, shooting the tail boom to the point where thick black smoke was seeping out.

"This is Orca nine!" The pilot called urgently as systems were showing red, "We're retreating. The chopper's heavily-"

_BOOM!_

The tail exploded, sending the chopper into a wild spin towards the water below.

_Splash!_

"Good luck, gettin' out pal."

_Tw-twang!_

Two bullets nearly hit his hind hooves.

_Tw-tw-twang!_

Three bullets hit the left metal panel.

"Crap!" He turned the turret to the boat's starboard.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at…_

He returned fire while more bullets from the enemy HMG kept hitting the panels.

_BOOM!_

"Whoah!" Haystack said, as he watched an explosion overwhelm the boat.

The M79's muzzle oozed with smoke as Ivan held onto it from the hip.

"Hmm, I might need this." Ivan was impressed by the grenade launcher's performance.

"Ahvan, did you do that?"

"Duh."

_BOOM! SPLASH!_

"What the-"

"Huh?" Haystack said as he shook in fear from the blast.

They turned around to find a large blast of water arising from the lake. It nearly made their jaws drop from the shock and awe.

_BOOM! SPLASH!_

Another explosion of water occurred in front of them, sending water hurdling towards the boat, drenching Haystack.

"Aw, hell!" The wet pony shouted as he was pushed towards the deck by the water's force.

_BOOM! SPLASH!_

Suddenly, the boat felt weightless as it tilted forward, sending the two flying into the air.

"AAAAAHHHH!" They screamed before the deck met the water.

Once the duo met it, they quickly held their breaths and swam away while they put on their oxygen masks and goggles.

_BOOM!_

"Crap!" Ivan briefly looked back, witnessing the overturned boat explode.

"Looks lahke they had enough." Haystack said.

"Let's just swim to shore before they find out that we're not dead."

"Ugh, Obviously."

_Beep!_

"Ivan, you alright?" Troy's voice resumed.

"Yes sir. And how are you talking to me? We're underwater and the walkie tal-"

"No time for that. One of my resistance buddies have offered you refuge until the evening."

"Oh, good." Ivan was happy about the news

"Yeah." Then his tone changed, revealing a catch to it, "About that."

And Ivan could tell "Ugh, what is it?"

"You know the M198's that have been shooting at you?"

"You mean those artillery shells that bashed our boat ride?"

"Yeah, you're going to have to fight your way past it."

Ivan rolled his eyes, "No we're not."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"We're going to cloak our way past it, obviously."

*Static*

"Aw great! Either this guy's being a douche or they cut us off again."

"So, there is something good and we need to fight our way to it." Haystack guessed.

"Yep, you're right." He nodded.

"Hmm, hey, did you notice that Roger said Soviet Union instead of Soviet Empire."

Ivan went along with the irrelevant comment, "Yeah, but they were called the Soviet Union before and during World war two."

"Oh, ah didn't know that."

"Well, everyone makes mistakes, and some mistakes are redeemable."

Haystack nodded in agreement, and from there they continued to swim until they reached the shore.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

They were now approaching the shoreline.

"Now, activate your invisibility. Expect a huge number of troops waiting for us on the shore."

"Mmm Hmm."

And so they did. By the time they stood up, they were completely invisible to the personnel carriers that were just now arriving on the beach. The two began to sprint past the vehicles as they began to open their doors to deploy the troops.

It didn't take long before they reached the first building that was across the street. It was a small abandoned office building. And the evidence for that was on an "OUT OF BUSINESS" poster that was planted on the front door.

"Let's get in." Ivan ordered as they uncloaked themselves.

Haystack nodded in agreement as Ivan kicked the door open. Once the two were inside, they found an empty waiting room beholding them.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep…_

"You hear that?" Ivan asked, looking around to find the source while Haystack did the same.

Quickly, they noticed that the beeping noise was coming from one of Haystack's pockets.

"Uh, ah think it's the key." Haystack took his oxygen mask from his muzzle and reached into the pocket.

"Oh, huh, I forgot." Ivan took his own mask off before putting it away, "Anyways, key?"

By then, Haystack had a golden cut key in between his teeth, "Hrr."

Ivan grabbed the key and slid it out of his mouth before looking at it. The key had a ring connected to it, and a flashing red ball attached. It also had the letters BB branded on both sides.

"Hmm, looks like this is some sort of homing beacon. And it looks like we're close by."

They rummaged through every empty room in the building before the ring began to beep more frequently as they reached a room on the third and final floor of the building.

"Looks like we're close."

They entered the empty room. That's when the beeping rate increased even more. Ivan placed the key in front of him until the beeping turned into buzzing once it was within range of a keyhole.

"There it is." He said before walking up to it.

The key cut to silence once he inserted it inside. After twisting it to the right, it unlocked, revealing the edges of a small safe door.

"Hmm." He then opened the door. Inside, was a leather bag of money, and they could tell because it had a currency symbol on it, "Well, at least it's better than nothing."

He then turned to face Haystack, "Anyways, where did you get the key? I forgot to ask."

"At the pet store, while Davey was giving us weapons and water."

"Oh, that explains the BB print. Also speaking of water…" Ivan then got out a water bottle and began to drink it all. While doing so, he felt a cold sensation in both his hands and throat; as if he was holding and eating snow. And that lasted until every drop was swallowed, "Brrr, chilly."

"And whah'd ya do that?"

"Recharging my dice, of course."

He then grabbed the satchel and put it on the floor before unzipping and opening it. The bag in the safe would be next before it was untied from the rope that held it closed. After doing that, he pretty much dumped the golden coins in with the package.

"Hey, have you noticed that the package didn't get damaged?" Ivan then put the money bag down.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Remember? We were in the water."

"So the satchel is waterproof. Huh, we Equestrians dream of that technology."

"Yeah, hope it doesn't turn to jealousy."

Haystack nodded, because it was true.

Ivan zipped it closed before placing the strap onto his shoulder. While doing so, he noticed something, "Huh, they're not even heavy in the satchel."

_SNAP!_

Haystack felt something break underneath his right hoof as he stepped forward. After lifting it, he noticed that one of the coins were broken into pieces.

"That's because the coins aren't actually made of gold."

"Yeah." Ivan picked one of the pieces up and observed it with his fingers and eyes, "And they're actually bottle caps."

"No wonder they denied rights for that gold mine." Ivan noted, "They had another way to make money."

"Ugh." Haystack shook his head at the realization, "This place is getting weirder and weirder."

"I guess it is."

They then exited out an opening in the wall of a room across on the first floor. Once outside, they found themselves in another alleyway where on one of the buildings, was a vending machine.

"Ahvan, what's that?" Haystack asked, pointing at the machine.

Ivan then looked at it.

"Hmm, a vending machine." And so they walked over there.

Upon reaching it, Ivan realized that it looked more like a slot machine. Haystack on the hand, just wondered how it worked.

On the screen, was the seal of Danville. That's when a voice coming from the speakers on the upper right part of the machine announced in a male chirpy tone,

"Hello there, sir or Madame! Welcome to the mini-store of power! The place where you can upgrade your combat and medical abilities to better levels!"

"Huh, not what I wanted but at least their money isn't useless to us." Ivan said.

Haystack nodded.

"Please make your purchase by selecting your wanted item on the touch screen!"

The seal disappeared to reveal a rectangular shaped grey button on the screen with the words "Cloak recharge" over it in white. At the far right of the button, it stated that it cost two hundred and fifty to purchase.

"Well I'll be." Ivan said, impressed at the upgrade before pressing it with his thumb.

"Ahvan?" asked Haystack once something crossed his mind, "Shouldn't we hurry up? Ah mean, troops maght know we're here."

"Haystack…" Ivan shook his head in disbelief, "Do you hear that?"

The pony perked his ears up to hear what's outside their position. All he could hear was the sound of military vehicles rolling around town with troops marching and yelling out orders.

"Yes ah do."

"Good, so don't expect troops to be coming over here."

"Yes sir."

He faced the screen to find out that it had a message underneath his selection. It read,

**You know: You can add an extra pill to your purchase**

**if you are buying one for your friend and**

** one for yourself!**

(Ten credit fee.)

DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED?

-YES-/-NO-

"So not only did can I add an extra pill to my purchase, but I guess Roger decided to use 'credits' as their currency's name."

"Ugh, just press yes." Haystack moaned, growing inpatient.

"Alright!" Ivan replied, annoyed at his remark.

He pressed the yes button, causing the message to disappear. The voice then returned due to this, "Please use this eye scan to confirm that you both have the DNA necessary to make your purchase."

They heard a mechanical buzz as the eye scan flipped over to face them.

"Alright." Ivan repeated, only calmer. He leaned forward and placed his right eye in front of the scanner. In a split the second, a vertical line of green light would fly over it, scanning his eye. After that, he heard a beeping sound which signaled the machine's approval, "Ok, your turn Haystack."

"So you just place yer ah in front of that?"

"Yep." He nodded.

"Looks simple enough."

Due to his size, he was able to reach the eye scanner without lifting himself up. The green light would pass over before there was a loud buzz as if someone got the wrong answer on a game show. It would then be followed by the voice saying, "I'm sorry, your DNA doesn't meet our requirements."

"Looks lahke Equestrians aren't on their list."

"Ya think?"

"That means we will downgrade your purchase. Sorry about that." Then a metal bin slid out of the bottom area, "Please dump the money needed to purchase here!"

And so, without question, he grabbed the satchel and opened it. Upon doing so, he took the package out and told Haystack to hold onto it. He agreed and gripped onto with his teeth. Ivan then proceeded to do as he was told. The screen began to display the money count, the number ascending with each coin hitting the bottom. Then, when it reached two fifty, the bin quickly snapped back inside with a clap, making them jolt back.

"Hrrh, crrpy ersh mchine." Haystack muttered as some of the coins dropped onto the ground.

They suddenly heard sawing noises coming from inside the machine. Then, there was a thunk before the bin snapped back open with a small yellow case and the coins gone.

"Have a nice day sir!"

"Sweet." Ivan said as he grabbed the case and opened it. Inside, was a yellow and red pill. And so, he went on to swallow it with water of course. And while he was at it, he decided to drink the rest of the bottle in order to recharge his dice.

Then, upon emptying the bottle, he felt dizzy, and his vision would flash bright yellow as he heard a loud crack in his ears.

"Damn." He muttered as he recovered from the episode.

"Er, Ervrn, yr frrgrt thsh." Haystack said as he held onto another Vita with his teeth, the package and scattered coins back inside the satchel.

"Oh, thanks."

Ivan then took the Vita from his mouth and pressed the on button. After doing so, the grey screen returned and so did the silhouetted man. The words, "CLOAK RECHARGE" appeared underneath as French accordion music played.

"Cloaking has been enabled to recharge." The woman announced, "Which means that while visible, your cloaking ability will go back up to three minutes."

"Ugh! Well no shoot Sherlock!"

The slide then cut to a warning sign, "Warning: If you choose to cloak before charging back to three minutes, then your power will dwindle from there. Second warning: does not work when the cloaking pill is completely drained… Have fun, comrade!"

The end tagline appeared before the music and visuals turned off, causing Ivan to instinctively throw the Vita against the wall behind them.

"Egh, what a waste of Vitas. C'mon let's go." Ivan said before zipping the satchel closed and placing the straps over his shoulder again.

After walking away from the machine, they went through an alleyway to their right. At the end of it, they found themselves just two blocks away from the artillery cannon that nearly took them out, along with hordes of troops guarding it.

"So how do ya expect us to get past that?" asked Haystack.

"We're not fighting any of these bastards, that's for sure."

He began to look around to find a way. That's when he found a large ladder that stretched from their position up to the top floor of the building it was on.

"Looks like we're doing more parkouring. C'mon."

And so, he walked up to the ladder and began to climb with Haystack right behind him.

*Static*

"Ivan, are ya there?" Troy asked, causing Ivan to take the walkie talkie out.

"Yeah. Anyways, where the hell is this shelter you offered us?"

"Uh huh, about that."

"I'm listening."

"There's a reason you need to fight your way through it."

"And that is?"

"Blow up the artillery shells and one of my resistance buddies will come out and light a flare amidst the smoke."

"Uh, won't that hurt any civilians? I mean, the blast will be big."

"They were evacuated in case that happened. Oh, and the only way to the shelter is underground."

By then, the two were already on the rooftop. They could even feel the cool breeze run past them.

He sighed, "Good to hear. Anyways, we'll blow it up in no time."

"Good. Troy out."

*Static*

"Ok then. Let's blow that up. Here you go Haystack."

He tossed him the sniper rifle.

"What? But whah me?" Haystack complained.

"Since you couldn't take the cloak recharge pill, I think you'll find it useful."

"Yeah but, can't ya just use yer grenade launcher?"

Ivan facepalmed, "Haystack, grenades make an arc when they're fired. The possibility that the grenade will hit the shells is one in six. And the more grenades I fire, the more likely I'll get shot."

Haystack knew he couldn't let that happen, "Fahne."

He lifted the rifle and looked through the scope, aiming for one of the shells that lied next to the cannon.

_F-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f…._

"Crap!" Ivan muttered as he heard the sounds of an attack chopper in the distance, "Hold your-"

_BLAM!_

_BOOM!_

That explosion was followed by more explosions, smoke that stretched for at least two and a half blocks, and cries for help.

Rat-at-at-at-at-at…

Bullets began to hit the rooftop, missing him by inches.

"Damn it! Let's get the hell out of here!" Ivan ordered, causing Haystack to follow him while the chopper flew over them.

They then slid down the ladder, and landed on the gravel. Ivan then got out his pistol while Haystack switched to his M16 once they went out into the street.

"Ah *Ahem* Ahvan, ah *Ahem* can't see!" Haystack coughed as they ran through the smoke, their eyes releasing tears duo to the smoke's sting.

*Ahem* "Me neither, but-"

Suddenly, they felt someone bump into them, and due to that, they fell on their bums. In front of them were two pairs of red lighted goggles, ascending before their eyes. Then, without freaking out, they shot them where the bullets will kill them before quickly grabbing the goggles and putting them on. Upon doing so, they were able to see clearly even though everything was red now. The first thing they saw was one of the sandbag levees. So without hesitation, they ran towards it and used it as cover while putting on their oxygen masks.

"So, do you think they know where we are?" Ivan shouted.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

_Tw-tw-tw-tw-tw-tw-twang…_

"Obviously!" Haystack replied as bullets pounded onto their cover.

Suddenly, they heard a loud pop and a whining noise in the distance. They looked up, to find a flare up in the air.

*Static!*

"Ivan, get moving! My forces will cover you!"

*Static!*

"Alright, you heard 'em! Let's go!"

They then got up and vaulted over the levee. While doing so, Ivan fired a blast of liquid nitrogen onto one of the soldiers, creating another glacier for them to use as cover. Once their feet touched the ground, they ran towards it, taking out three soldiers each without getting hit.

_BOOM!_

The ground began to shake again as the smoke cleared, causing them to fall down. Looking behind them, they found the same robotic soldier from before looking at them with those glaring eyes.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!" The machine yelled.

"Crap!" Ivan yelled before he switched to the M79, "Cover me Haystack!"

_Ka-thwop! BOOM! Ka-thwop! BOOM! Ka-thwoop! BOOM!_

They ran past the small glacier as the grenades exploded on the robot's body armor.

On the other side, the rebels (Wearing mostly beige) started to fire smoke bombs before dealing with the other scattered enemy forces. On the other hand, the ones armed with RPG's helped Ivan with the robot.

"Fall back!" One of the rebels yelled in a raspy tone once the two reached the white smoke.

"This way!" Another rebelled ordered them to go, by pointing at a manhole to the sewer.

Meanwhile, the robot had enough.

"NO MORE!" It yelled as it was being pounded by explosives. And so, the robot got out its rocket launcher and fired at the group, destroying everything within the blast radius. Ivan and Haystack on the other hand, were flown into the air, screaming. It was only out of luck that that made them fall into the manhole and into the sewer below.

"Ow." Ivan muttered after hitting his head on the fall.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Ow." Ivan repeated under his breath as he and Haystack got up, looking around through the rebels' headlamps.

"Troy, the two mercenaries are alright." One of the rebels contacted through his walkie talkie, "But we lost twelve of our men in the process."

"Ugh, goddamn Roboldier!" Troy moaned.

"Huh, so that's what it's called." Ivan muttered.

*Static!*

*Static!*

"Ivan, is it working?" Troy asked through Ivan's walkie talkie.

"Yes, yes it is. So, these are your buddies." Ivan said as he and Haystack glanced at each and every one of the eight resistance fighters that were all looking back at them with their goggle cover eyes. At the same, they gave an awkward smile, since they were too nervous to say anything.

"Yep. Welcome to the resistance, my friend."

"Uh, thanks, sir."

"You're welcome. Anyways-"

"Uh sir, we're going to have to move quickly!" A rebel wearing a turban warned, "Those goggles of theirs' have tracking beacons."

"What?" Ivan couldn't believe it, neither did the rest, "How did you-"

The two then took their goggles off to notice that there was a flashing light in between the lenses.

"Because I used to work with them. Let's move!"

"Then why didn't you tell them that?" Another rebel asked them while the duo tossed their goggles onto the water beneath them before they began to run. In the meantime, the two put their actual goggles on. For Ivan, it was odd that he let them dangle in front of him while using the enemy's.

"I dozed off." The man replied.

"Hmm, you and me both." Ivan mumbled.

"Hello?" Troy called, "Ivan?"

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Oh good, remember to use that dice of yours."

That's when the squadron (excluding Haystack) began to speak amongst themselves, wondering what he meant.

"Uh, how do you know that?"

"No time! I'll explain-"

*Static*

"Damn it!"

"Well, those mongrels can't stop making announcements, can't they?" A female rebel asked, annoyed by Doofania's tradition.

"Nope." Another rebel answered, "Hey kid?"

All they could hear was the sound of their boots splashing on the water.

"Kid with the grey overcoat." The rebel then clarified.

"Oh. Yeah?" Ivan asked, criticizing himself for not replying as soon as possible.

"Can you tell your Equine friend to wait-"

"AMBUSH!" Haystack yelled as bullets began to fly past him, missing by a few inches.

Ivan face palmed, "Too late my friend."

However, the rebels were too busy being taken aback by the pony's sudden yell to pay attention.

They then met up with Haystack while he was standing against the wall near the three-way intersection, and joined him.

"Next time Haystack, slow down."

He nodded in obedience, feeling ashamed for what he did.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at…_

"Move in!" One of the soldiers yelled.

_Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash…_

"Open fire!" The turban wearing rebel whispered before the group charged out into the sewer intersection and did just that.

"AAAH!" One of the soldiers cried, shot in the stomach.

"Man down! I repeat, man-Ai!" That soldier was shot in the head as the rebel squadron ran across the intersection and onto the other side.

"Dammit, those dumbasses are in our way." The rebel muttered.

"So, that's where we were supposed to go?" Ivan asked.

"Obviously. Didn't I just say that they were in our way?"

"I was just saying, sir."

They ran for about thirty more seconds until they found a four-way intersection. Upon reaching it, they all turned left. But little did they know that more troops were waiting for them down the tunnel

"Fire!" One of them yelled before he and his comrades pulled the triggers of their weapons.

"Get down!" said the leader.

They all went prone before returning fire. It wouldn't take long before all ten Doofanian soldiers would be mowed down by their counter attack.

"Huh, that was easy." He added.

_BOOM!_

The loud explosion behind them released smoke across the tunnel they were previously running through.

"And it looks like they stepped on the mine I planted."

"Wait, you planted a mine while we were-" One of his comrades asked before being interrupted.

"Yes, now let's go." He then faced Ivan as they began to run away from the smoke, "The name's Mark by the way."

"Oh, well nice to meet you." He found it odd that the turban wearing man didn't introduce himself earlier.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Ivan, Ivan Bentley." He answered without even looking at him, but realizing that Mark should already know his name by now.

"Well nice meet you Mister Bentley. And your little pony friend?"

"Uh, he's not little, sir."

"Well you know what I mean." He said as he glanced at the trotting earth pony.

"Oh, well his name is Haystack, sir."

"Huh, do you ever wonder why their names are like that?"

"Not at all, and you can forget about asking the Celestianists and Luna witnesses about that, because they don't know either."

Haystack in the meantime, heard the entire conversation, and felt the same way as Ivan on that.

"Watch out, more of them!" One of Mark's comrades yelled, "And they have riot shields!"

"Let me deal with them." Ivan said before switching to his M79, and firing three grenades at the oncoming wave of enemy troops.

_Ka-thwop! BOOM! Ka-thwop! BOOM! Ka-thwop! BOOM!_

Eight of the twelve troops were thrown off their feet from the blast before the squadron dealt with the remaining four.

"We should take the shields. It'll go a long way." Mark suggested.

"I think they will." Ivan said.

And so they ran up to the corpses and did just that.

_BLAM!_

_Shwooom! Plat!_

"Arrgh!" The ski masked rebel shrieked as a bullet tore through his head.

"Sniper!" Mark yelled before everyone in the squadron quickly lifted their shields up towards their faces, "Let's go, before more of us get sh-"

_BLAM!_

_Shwooom! Smash! Plat!_

"Mark's down!" A rebel yelled in fright.

"Damn, and I just met the guy." Ivan mumbled.

_BLAM!_

"Clear." Haystack announced as he lied on his belly, rifle in hand.

The others looked down in shock, primarily because he spoke to them for the second time. However, all Haystack did was look directly into his scope and watch the sniper's corpse lie flat on his back, feeling too nervous to look back at them

"Uh." Ivan had to calm them down, "L-let's go you guys. We need to keep moving."

"Uh, Oh." That's when they all snapped out of it, "Y-yes sir.

They then turned around and proceeded down the tunnel, moving on from the fact that two of their comrades were just murdered.

"C'mon Haystack." Ivan ordered.

The still earth pony nodded before getting up and following the squad.

"Ahvan?"

"Yeah?"

"Whah did they go crazy when ah talked?" He asked, for that annoyed him.

"Well, you ponies are known for not speaking while off Equestrian grounds. Take last year's summer Olympics for example."

"Yeah, ah guess yer raght. We only speak when the princess tells us to."

"Hmm, but you're a temporary mercenary now. Celestia can't tell you that."

"True."

"More of 'em!" Another rebel cried.

"Oh come on." Ivan muttered.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at…_

_Cl-cl-cl-cl-cl-clang…_

The bullets pounded onto their shields while the two ran up to assist them. However, upon reaching their position they noticed that the incoming wave of troops also had shields as well. So the two factions decided to deal with this as they normally would. They then let out a battle cry before charging at each other with their weapons in hand.

Ivan in the meantime, took out his pistol.

_BLAM!_

His first shot would kill a soldier that was trying to pounce on the rebel in front of Ivan to kill him with a machete. After that was done, he began to walk forward, causing Haystack to follow.

_BLAM! BLAM!_

The next bullet hit another soldier (to his left) in the leg before the next shot hit her in the head.

_BLAM!_

The next soldier (which was too his right) was shot in the face while he had his target on the ground and was on the verge of shooting.

And since no rebel soldier was lost in the clash, they were able to deal with the remaining three troops with ease. Then, without saying a word, they proceeded into the next sewer intersection.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at…_

Assault rifles and SMG's were being fired from behind.

"Crap!" The duo shrieked in unison before quickly turning around to prevent the bullets from reaching them. That's not to say for the rebels, for they all were shot dead before they could even react.

_Cl-cl-cl-cl-cl-cl-clank!_

_CRACK!_

Ivan gasped in shock after one of the bullets made his shield crack, telling him that it couldn't hold much longer.

"Ahvan! Do something!" Haystack demanded as he struggled to switch from his sniper rifle to his M16.

"On it! And why didn't you stick with your M16 in the fi-"

"It's because of that sni-"

"Never mind!"

And so, he quickly placed his pistol in between his teeth and extended his arm, firing another blast of nitrogen towards the troops to his left. Three of the four would be caught inside the glacier, while the fourth got his foot stuck in it. Without wasting time, Ivan switched back to his pistol and shot him dead while he was trying desperately to get it out of there. And due to that, Haystack was able to shoot the other soldiers down, since the blast of nitrogen was powerful enough to get their brief attention.

"God damn it!" Ivan said, frustrated at the loss of their comrades, "We lost our ticket to the shelter, that's for sure."

"But whah do we need that 'Shelter' again?" asked Haystack while he looked at the bodies.

"We can't camp outside the labor department. If we do, we'll get our asses kicked."

"That's true."

*Static!*

"Ivan, you there?"

"Yeah, and bad news, your whole squadron's dead."

_Slap!_

"Dammit!"

_Crash!_

The sound made them jolt.

"Uh, you alright."

"Yes, I'm alright." He said, hiding his frustration, "Grrr! No, I'm not! Why would you let-"

"Whoa! We were ambushed."

"Ugh." Troy did the best he could calm himself down, "Never mind then, where are you?"

"In another sewer intersection."

"Oh, and is there a ladder there?"

They looked behind them to find out that there was one right there, and the headlamps were showing him that.

"Yes sir."

"Climb on, because I don't think you'll be able to find your way through the shelter without the aid of my finest."

"But sir-"

*Static*

"Alright let's go. And at the same time, wait for Troy to give us further orders."

Haystack nodded while Ivan began to ascend up the ladder and towards the manhole above.

"Oh yeah, Ahvan?'

"Huh?" He stopped the climb.

"What's this place used fer, since Ah've seen many of these places have different purposes."

"Uh, you don't wanna know."

"Oh, also, Ah found this whahle we were at that vendin' machine thingy." He reached into one of his pockets and then handed him another tape recorder.

"Well, looks like we got another one of these." He then took it from his mouth and pressed the play button.

Once he heard the click, the recording started; and with that, they continued their climb.

At the beginning of the recording, they heard moans of pain, followed by a voice.

"Come on Josh *Sniff*," The (feminine tomboyish) voice cried in panic, "Don't die on me *Sniff*… Damn, this is bad *Sniff!*. Why did I tell him to take those body builders in the first place? …"

"What does she mean by body builders?" Haystack asked while Ivan was lifting the lid.

"I think she's referring to those pills we took."

"… *Sniff* Don't die Josh *Sniff*, don't die!" She cried as the 'Josh' fellow continued to wallow in his misery, "… damn pills *Sniff*..."

"Huh, I was right."

There was a squeal before it went completely quiet. By then, the two were already exiting out the sewer.

"No! No! No! Josh!" She began to weep profusely, "Josh! Josh! Jo-"

_*Static!*_

_Click!_

"Looks like we should be careful with what we put in our mouths." Ivan said as they ran into an alley.

"Agree."

Since there was nothing they could do, they sat against a nearby wall, waiting for those further orders.

"So, looks like we're going to be here for quite a while, are we?"

"Ah guess so. Now here ah am, thinkin' that my reputation will be fixed in just a couple of days." Haystack said, feeling down in the dumps, "Ya know, that recordin' remahnds me-"

"Say no more." Ivan responded, "Remember the deal."

"Oh, sorry sir." He knew he wasn't going to argue with him. He was the commander of the duo after all.

"Hey, you ever heard of the city of Rapture?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah, it's a city at the bottom of the ocean that you humans built in the nineteen forties, but it was a total failure. Whah ask?"

"Hmm, because since it's a popular 'Creepy pasta' around here, I thought some of you Equestrians heard of it."

"Creepy pasta, what's that?"

"Internet slang, for 'urban legends'."

"What's the internet?"

"Oh right."

And thus, the conversation ended quickly. So they just sat there for about at least three minutes until they began to hear static coming from the walkie talkie.

"Huh, looks like he's back.' Ivan said.

_Vrrrrooooooom! Shreeeech!_

"Crap!" Ivan yelled as a humvee pulled in front of them, "How did they-"

"Ivan, have you managed to-"

*Static*

"Dammit! All for nothing!"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

Ivan crouched down, causing the bullets to miss him. He then jumped towards the wall on his right and bounced off before the stream of rounds reached him. Once he was able to jump a good distance, he made a somersault onto the street before getting out his pistol and shooting the HMG wielding soldier in the head. As the soldier collapsed back inside, he hopped onto the hood before reaching the rooftop and shooting down every soldier inside from the ring-mount.

"Wow, does it take them that long to get ready?" Ivan muttered.

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…

"Yikes!" He jumped off as the incoming chopper fired multiple rounds at him. He then said, "C'mon Haystack, we're outta here and you're shooting!"

"What!? But wha-" He then realized why he's shooting, "Oh, ok!"

He then galloped over there and climbed onto the rooftop, causing the Humvee to tilt slightly.

"You know you could just-" Ivan said as he opened the door and dragged the body out of the seat.

"No tahme!" He grabbed onto the HMG, "Anyways, whah are we doin' this?"

_Schreeech!_

A Humvee appeared on the other side of the alley way before turning the turret towards them and opening fire.

"Uh oh." Haystack then counter-attacked.

"That's why!" He slammed the door shut and pulled the lever onto drive. He pushed the gas pedal, causing the Humvee to speed off while two more behind them gave chase. That's when bullets started to fly out of their HMG's.

Despite this, Haystack was able to turn the turret towards them and fire, aiming for the drivers. The fire fight lasted for about a block until Haystack managed bring one of them down. The Humvee would skid out of control before crashing into the other with tremendous force, sending the HMG armed soldiers flying into the air.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at…_

Bullets pounded onto the street, for the chopper was flying back for another round.

"Ugh, it's back!' The pony muttered before aiming at the chopper's left cabin entrance (Where the bullets were coming from).

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at…_

He returned fire, and it only took about four seconds before the soldier would drop. Once the pilots got word of that, they turned the chopper ninety degrees counter-clockwise before preparing to fire a missile.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep..._

A red light started flashing on the steering wheel, making Ivan notice. Underneath that, it read "FLARE!"

He gasped, for he knew what was about to happen.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeep!_

He pressed the button, and a trio of flares would fire from three muzzles located on each bottom side of the Humvee. And so, the missile would follow one of the flares while the pilots of the chopper tried to shoot Haystack down. Fortunately for him, he was able to stand his ground, even as Ivan made a sharp turn to the left at an intersection. It didn't take long before the chopper couldn't take it anymore. The bullets were able to fly through the windows and kill the pilots. And before they knew it, the chopper was making its decent towards the ground.

"So, How-"

_CRASH!_ _BOOM!_

"Holy shoot!" Haystack jolted as he watched the mushroom cloud of fire and smoke arise in the distance.

"What was that?" Ivan asked.

"Where the hell are we going?"

"Don't know, we'll just tell Troy that-"

_BOOM!_

The robot was back, standing in front of them.

"Crud!" He pushed the brakes, causing the vehicle to skid towards the robot before coming to a halt.

Meanwhile, Haystack returned fire as fear was crawling into him, aiming for the face.

Ivan then pushed the gas pedal and sped off to the right before the robot could make his move.

"C'MERE CUPCAKE!" The robot yelled before giving chase.

"No wonder they weren't putting up much of a fight!" Ivan shouted as the Humvee shook from the robot's running.

"BUYAAA!" The robot then jumped into the air.

"Ahvan!" Haystack cried as he watched the robot jump over him like a hurdle.

Ivan pushed the brake again, while simultaneously getting out the M79 and loading it with the few grenades he had left.

_BOOM!_

The robot landed in front of them before turning around. It then raised its fist, preparing to strike. By then. Ivan was ready to fire. He stuck the M79 out of the window and fired grenades at his face.

"ULGH!" The robot groaned as it refrained from its move to tend to his wound.

This gave Ivan a chance to drive around the distracted machine.

"GET BACK HE-"

_BOOM!_

The head exploded into pieces once the last of the HMG bullets tore through it.

"Bull's-eye." Haystack muttered in satisfaction, watching the robot dance in mechanical pain, with sparks flying out of the neck stump.

"Nice shot." Ivan complemented as he watched the event unfold through the side view mirror.

"Thanks." He replied while he was reloading.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!_

"Uh oh." Haystack muttered, his jaw dropping at the sight beholding him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" The headless machine cried while pounding his chest with his two fists.

"Crap!" Ivan shouted as he watched it jump into the air once again, "Kill it!"

"On it!" Haystack finished reloading and aimed upwards.

While in midair, the robot took his rocket launcher out and pointed it towards them.

"MMMAGGOT!"

_Boom!_

The rocket then flew out of the muzzle, only for the bullets to stop it.

_BOOM!_

The robot was sent flying back before crashing onto the street below, creating a massive crater in the gravel.

"So, I guess shooting it in the head won't kill it." Ivan said in disbelief.

"Ah guess it doesn't. And how the hay is it talkin' without its head?"

"Beats me!"

*Static!*

"Ivan, where the hell are you?"

"Somewhere in some place, I don't know!" Ivan said, looking around in panic, "Look, I'm driving very fast and all the buildings in this area look the same! How the hell am I supposed to know?!"

"Ahvan, it's back!" Haystack watched in astonishment as the robot bounced over the road like ninja in a forest.

"Kill it then!"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" The robot then jumped into the air, made a fist, and aimed for the ring-mount.

_BOOM!_

Fortunately, he missed, but the blast was powerful enough to throw the Humvee off, sending Haystack into the air, screaming. Ivan in the meantime, hit his head on the rooftop, making him struggle for a scream. But once it hit the ground, it rolled over violently, sending Ivan all over the place like a piece of clothing in a washing machine.

"Nmh." Ivan moaned, feeling a little dizzy once the spin wild ride ended. He was now lying flat on his back over the chairs, "Haystack, you alright?"

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! … _

The footsteps from the machine were getting louder as the ground shook.

"Haystack? … Oh yeah, that's right." He quickly opened the door and ran out, ignoring the robot that was approaching him.

"Surrender in the name of our dear fatherland!" A deep voice yelled as five helicopters hovered over the area.

Looking around, he also noticed that over five dozen troops were surrounding him, from every alley and from every side of the road.

"Great." He muttered, putting his hands up, and still looking for Haystack.

Not a few moments after, he was able to find him… with his head down, eyes closed, bruised , and being restrained by two soldiers.

"Found 'em, but he's knocked out… again."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"This is 'News Flash!' with Zelda Thorenstien." A male announcer said on the radio as patriotic music played in the background.

"Hello, fellow comrades. My name is Zelda Thorestien, and this is 'News flash'." A woman in a monotone voice, "Today, our troops have captured the man and pony that infiltrated our dear fatherland. They will no longer pose a threat to our great country. They are now awaiting their execution."

It then cut back to the woman, "In other news, our troops have captured Davey Fallinger. A man that has been living in an abandoned building along with Maribelle Alsworth. He has been executed on site, and our troops have taken the poor girl to the department of labor."

Ivan just sighed, not sure if he should move on or feel ashamed. He then decided to think of something else.

"Sad, isn't it?" A man in another cell next to theirs asked.

"What, that the guy was arrested?" Ivan asked.

"Just listen."

"… In other news, riots continue in the Sodom outside…"

"That the world is going through tough times?"

"Yep."

"We're all sad about that, sir." He replied with politeness.

"Yeah, times have always been tough since the revolution. Damn Heinz offered change, but he made life bad. I bet people and like you and ponies like your buddy have a good life out in the Sodom."

He should've known that he was talking about Danville, but he went along, "You know why I came here?"

"Why?"

"I came here to wipe away the debt, and so did my comrade… Well, I don't know much about him. Life in Equestria is a little better, so I don't know what debt he got into."

Then, he heard snoring.

"Great, I was talking to a sleepy old guy. I wonder how he got arrested."

Then, he heard grunts of panic, coming from Haystack before he heard a shout, "No! No! No!"

"Oh, so you're finally awake." Ivan said, standing upright.

"Huh?" He gasped before facing Ivan with a distraught look. After that, he settled down, "Oh, it's you."

He then faced the jail bars in sadness, "What tahme is it?"

"Eight fifty seven PM. You were knocked out for quite a long time"

"And how do you know that?"

"They let me keep the watch."

"And whah didn't you wake me up before?"

"They took away everything, even the package."

"Huh. What else do you know?"

"We're gonna die in a few minutes."

And that news made Haystack shed tears.

"And why are you crying?"

"*Sniff* Is that M-mah sister, mah grandma *Sniff* mah fillyfirend… they need the money. A-and *Sniff* ah d-don't know what's goin' t-to *Sniff* h-happen to them."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Look, just because we're in here, doesn't mean we're going doomed. Just calm down, wipe your tears and get up."

He nodded yes.

But Ivan had to ask, "Anyways, you-"

"Wha?"

He shut himself up, reminding himself of the deal.

"… This has been your fatherland's news hour, bringing you the news that matter to you." The anchorwoman announced as a patriotic hymn played, "Now, have a nice evening, for we are signing out."

"Great." Ivan moaned..

_Click! Cl-click!_

The door to their left opened. Entering, were three soldiers armed with Mp5's.

"Well, the time has come you two." The soldier in front said.

That made Haystack cry a little more.

"I know, but you shouldn't have been here in the first place." He then said coldly, "May Celestia have mercy on your soul."

_BLAM!_

One of the soldiers was shot in the head by what sounds like a revolver.

"What the-" The soldier in front turned around.

_BLAM!_

The bullet pushed the soldier back, making him sit lifelessly against the bars.

Now, a different person was in front of them. He was wearing a blue tuxedo, dress pants, and ski mask.

"Ahem, Gentlmen?" He said in a French accent.

"Uh…" Ivan muttered, speechless, "Thanks?"

_Click! Cl-click!_

He pushed the cell door open.

"Ze name's Pierre by the way." He introduced himself as the two exited out the door.

Ivan decided not to ask about what he saw, and went along, "Oh, nice to meet you sir. My name's Ivan Bentley and this-"

"Mah name is Haystack sir!" He greeted with joy, shaking his hand as hard as he could.

"Yeah, he's happy to be alive, sir." Ivan explained to a confused spy.

"Good." He smiled.

They grabbed the Mp5', ammo, grenades, and money from the bodies.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP…

A red light started to flash over them.

"What the hell was that?" The old man shouted after the alarm woke him up.

"Crap. I guess you're pistol got their attention."

"Guess so."

"So, where's the package?"

"We know you're in there!" A soldier on the other side shouted.

"No shoot." Ivan mumbled.

"It's to ze left of ze hallway. Fortunately, ze haven't touched it."

"Well, let's get moving then."

"Oh, and here." He got out a syringe containing a crystal blue liquid.

"What's this?"

"Ze dice they injected out of you."

"Oh. Good thing they didn't use it."

"It's because it already has your DNA, plus the dice contains highly explosive material."

"Oh." He was shocked, "Good thing I have it."

He then injected himself with the dice after rolling his sleeve up. In a few seconds, the chill returned to his hand.

"Swell." He marveled.

Ivan stood against the wall, next to the door, while Haystack stood behind him. Pierre in the meantime, stood still before suddenly fading into invisibility.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who can do that." Ivan mumbled again. However, he knew what he was about to do, so he kept the shotgun firm on his hip and prepared to pull the trigger.

The blue man held onto the door handle. Then, in a flash, the door pulled back, revealing soldier armed with two pistols to Ivan's sight.

Rat-at-at!

And in that very moment, the soldier was thrown back as bullets tore through his stomach. Once he was dealt with, the blue man would uncloak and fire his pistol at a soldier who was standing across from the other one.

"Go! Go! Go!" The man yelled before exiting out the door and pointing his pistol to the right side of the hall.

Ivan nodded, "C'mon Haystack."

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop…

He turned around and found that a sextuplet of troops were running down the stairs at the end of the hall. Ivan then did the unexpected, and that left them in shock.

"Why did you do that?" Pierre asked after watching the glacier take up the doorway.

"Look, it was either get shot or barricade ourselves." Ivan explained, "Also, we can use grenades to blow it up, now let's move."

The three then went in the opposite direction and ran down the dark hallway.

On the way down, Ivan noticed that the muzzle of a rifle was appearing at the end of the hall.

"Get down!" Ivan ordered as he tackled Haystack to the ground.

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at…

While down, Ivan found a grenade on the floor and grabbed it. After biting off the blade, he tossed it, letting it bounce against the wall and past the soldier as he was getting out of cover.

_Clang!_

"Huh?" He asked himself, glancing at the grenade.

"GRENADE!"

Rat-at!

'Uy!" He grunted as a bullet tore through his head.

_BOOM!_

Smoke appeared in front of them, giving them the approval to advance. After turning right at the end of the hallway, they noticed that the grenade managed to clear the area. To their left was a door, which made Ivan ask, "Is it here?!"

"Yep." Pierre then walked past them and unlocked it with the key, "Done. Go on inside."

And so they did. Inside uninhabited room, was a brown desk accompanied by a Doofanian flag, and a few cabinets around it. And on top of the desk, was the satchel with the package and coins still inside.

"Looks like those blokes forgot to open it." Ivan said as he grabbed the satchel and placed its strap on his shoulder.

"Ahvan, look at this." Haystack announced as he pointed at a bottle of bright red liquid on top of the cabinet.

"Huh?" Ivan then walked over there and grabbed it with his right hand. He then turned it around to look at the logo, which consisted of a black gas mask over a ball of flames.

"Pyro's fantasy." He read what was labeled underneath the logo.

Ivan twisted the cap off and started drinking.

"It's for ze best that you drink it, so it doesn't get in ze wrong hands."

"Whah can't ah drink it?" asked Haystack, thinking about the powers he'll get.

"Hmmm…" Pierre began to think about it.

"I'm not risking it, sir. He's a pony, and I don't know what this will do to him.

"Ahvan, ah just drank that pill." Haystack pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's just a pill." Ivan rebutted, "I'm talking about a drink that might kill you."

"And possibly kill you too?"

Ivan was left speechless.

"Make your choice Ivan. We don't have zat much time left." Pierre forewarned.

Ivan knew that there wasn't time, so he thought it over as quickly as possible. However, he knew that both decisions were too risky.

"I'm drinking it Haystack." He announced.

"Darn." Haystack muttered, stomping his foot on the floor.

It took at least one-third of a minute in order to drink it all. After doing so, he dropped the empty bottle before he began to feel dizzy. In front of him, he started to see sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows everywhere. His heart began to race while the first few stanzas from song, "Do you believe in magic" played in his head. Only thing about it, was that a high pitched female voice was singing it, and it would distort with every note.

"Huh, good thing it didn't kill me." He muttered before looking at his hands. All he saw was small puffs of flames coming out of it. A few seconds later, it would all fade to oblivion.

"And here's ze instructions." The man said as he handed Ivan the vita.

Once the vita was in his hand, he pressed the 'on' button.

The grey screen reappeared with the logo from the bottle in black and white, with the label underneath. In the background, "The Simpsons" theme played.

"Unleash a powerful blast of flames with Pyro's fantasy!" The woman said as the slide cut to the soldier looking scared as a rebel aimed their rifles at him, "Say, 'Ignis' in your head while thrusting either hand forward, and your enemies will be sizzling right before your eyes."

The next slide depicted the soldier igniting the rebel with his left hand forward, "Warning: Fire Spreads! Second Warning: Requires a bottle of alcohol in order to recharge."

"Alcohol?" Ivan asked in disbelief.

"Have fun, comrade." The woman said as the soldier gave a thumbs up before the typical ending slide appeared. Then, it all went black."

"So, looks like I'll be drinking booze then." Ivan muttered as he placed the satchel's strap on his shoulder.

"Gentlemen, we should keep moving. Troops-"

"Yes sir." The two said in unison before exiting the room and walking down the hall.

At the end of the hall, was the glacier that Ivan created which prevented them from reaching the stairs.

"Alright then, step aside."

And the two did so before Ivan stepped in front of the glacier and prepared to fire.

"_Ignis!"_ He thought while thrusting his hand forward, sending out a ball of fire towards the ice before exploding and melting the ice.

"Cool." Ivan said as they walked up the stairs.

"They have the dice!" They heard someone cry.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

An unarmored soldier was shot in the back while he was retreating for safer cover.

"Jack's down!" Another unarmored soldier cried before hiding in front of the counter.

The trio did the same, hiding on the other side.

"Haystack, take 'em out." Ivan whispered.

He nodded before crawling past them and hiding against the counter's width.

"Comrades, they've escaped! Get in here, no-"

_Rat-at-at-at-at!_

Bullets then punched through his chest, making him groan in pain.

"He's dow-"

"Now let's get the hell out of here before the troops get here!" Ivan said, vaulting over the counter and kicking the door open.

"It's him!" One of the soldiers in the outside fortress cried before opening fire.

With that, Ivan fired a blast of nitrogen at the charging troops, freezing at least two of them before running down the stairs and using the glacier as cover. His comrades would follow, dodging the bullets as they ran down the stairs.

_SMASH!_

Bullets pounded the ice as the three sat there, ready to counter attack.

Ivan was the first to do so. Pulling the trigger, he shot a soldier that was hiding behind the hood of a police car before returning to cover. Ivan then used his dice to take out three soldiers that were trying to flank them. They screamed in agony as the flames overwhelmed them.

"Nice." Ivan mumbled, impressed by its power.

Meanwhile, Haystack fired his Mp7 at two soldiers that were trying to run towards the police car in front of them for cover. Both were shot in just three seconds flat.

"Ivan, are you going to complete your mission?" Pierre asked, sitting in between the two.

_BLAM! BLAM!_

"Aaayyy!" A soldier groaned after one of the man's revolver bullets shot him in the face.

"Duh, we got a package to deliver." He replied, not paying attention to the shots, "Let's move! Let's move!"

They quickly got out of cover and advanced over to the police cars in front of them, using that as their new cover. The duo then sat there as the Humvee bullets hit the police rooftops. What they didn't know, was that that was giving Ivan and Pierre an idea.

Ivan crawled against the car's metal before dive-rolling to the next car without any of them seeing him do so.

He then crawled his way towards the back of the car and used the bumper as cover. Once he was set, he mounted his Mp7 onto the trunk and aimed at the Humvee.

_Rat-at-at!_

The bullets reached the soldier's head, making collapse and fire the HMG into the air.

"Damn it, Cole's down!" One of the soldiers cried, "Cole's-"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-Click!_

"Ay!" The soldier cried as Ivan went on to shoot him in the chest.

He ran towards the hood while reloading. Upon reaching there he sat against it and prepared to make his next move.

"What was that, Davey? Davey?" He heard another soldier say, "Uh, Cole? Aw crap!"

The soldier then looked down to find that 'Davey' was lying flat on his back, "Aw Geez!"

She ran up to him, "We need-"

_Rat-at-at-at-at!_

"Umph!" The soldier groaned as Ivan blind fired five shots into her chest.

He then got up and sprinted past the Humvee, charging towards the second Humvee. However, the soldier on the HMG saw this and quickly turned it towards him.

"Cover me!" He cried before firing multiple rounds at him.

But Ivan was even faster than the soldier's trigger pulling. He dodged the stream of bullets before rolling towards the hood where the bullets can barely miss him.

BLAM!

The soldier groaned as a bullet tore through his head.

_Rat-at-at-at! _

Haystack used this moment to shoot down the soldier that was firing from the Humvee's bumper.

"Go! Go! Go!" He ordered, making Ivan get up and deal with the remaining two soldiers behind the Humvee.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at! _

The bullets bombarded the two instantly, killing them before they could even make their move.

"Clear!" Ivan announced.

"So, what now?" Haystack asked as they reunited with him.

"Let's get the hell out of here of course. Let's take the cop car."

"Whah not the Humvee?"

"Don't feel like it."

Without further questioning, they ran to one of the squad cars, before entering and driving off.

"So where are we goin'?"

"A subway station near the lake. I remembered its location and-"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Pierre stated.

"And why so?"

"It's closed. And those grenades won't be powerful enough to break through the steel door."

"Fine. Then where should we go?"

"There's a bridge we can drive through. I'm sure that it'll be open."

"Alright then."

"Pierre?" Ivan asked, irritated.

"Yeah?" Pierre replied, eyes wide open.

"Did you ever say that the bridge was-"

"I didn't know." Pierre claimed as the three watched the fortified bridge with fear.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"So Pierre, what do you think we should do now?" Ivan asked with a hint of frustration.

Pierre just sat there, observing the scene.

"C'mon, we don't have-"

_CRACK!_

They screamed in unison.

_Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! CRASH!_

"Get down!" Pierre shouted as the glass window broke into pieces. He then pushed the gas pedal and drove straight towards the bridge while more bullets were flying past them.

"What the hell are you-"

"Put your oxygen masks on!" He commanded.

"Oh, I know where this is going!" He then turned around, "Haystack!"

"Ah'm on it!" He shouted back as he searched for his mask.

"Good." He turned back and did the same.

Pierre, in the meantime, steered to right, going off road and towards the river.

"Eep!" Ivan squealed after taking a small peek at the direction they were heading for.

_BOOM!_

"Son of a bitch!" Haystack shouted as smoke arose into the air.

_CRASH!_

The rest of the windows broke into pieces.

"Hold on!" Pierre yelled before he drove the car off the ground and into the water below.

_VROOOOooooooom! SPLASH!_

The police car began to sink as bullets continued to pound the rooftop. Luckily, the three were able to get out through the broken windows as their goggles began to illuminate.

"Oh, thanks Celestia we're alraght." Haystack rejoiced as they swam further away from the vehicle.

_BOOM!_

The sinking vehicle exploded, sending bubbles and debris flying.

"Yeah, you can say that again." Ivan scoffed.

"Oui, now let's get ze hell over to ze department. Follow me."

"Uh, we already are sir."

Pierre rolled his eyes, "I know, just checking."

They continued their swim as the goggles' night vision showed them the way.

"Ahvan?"

"Ugh, yeah?"

"Remember when we took those dead soldiers' goggles to see through the smoke?"

"Of course, that was hours ago. Why ask?"

"You know, since there's naght vision in our goggles-."

Ivan moaned, realizing what they should've done, "Don't go any further."

"Oh, ok… Pierre?" asked Haystack.

"Yes my equine friend?"

"Where are ya from?"

"_Ugh, don't mind him. He's from Equestria."_ Ivan reminded himself, even though he should've done that when he was asking Davey a personal question.

"Toulouse, France. Left ze city to join BLU back in two thousand and twenty."

"You're from France?" He said ecstatically.

Pierre nodded.

"Huh, wait, why's BLU doing here?" Ivan asked.

"Don't you know? Wherever RED goes, BLU follows, and vice versa."

"Oh right… so why did you leave?"

"Same reason why you two are here."

The two began to feel uneasy by that statement, since Pierre knew who they worked for and why.

"Uh, how do you know that?"

"Ze insignia on the soldier." He then pointed at the crossed sword and musket that bared a blue dove, "BLU has strong ties with ze company that owns them. Kelferson LLC I think it was."

"Oh." He didn't have anything else to say about that, so he decided to change topic, "Anyways, so do you know why RED is here?"

"Yep. Ze country hasn't changed since Heinz took power. So before he died, he gave all power to his daughter."

"You mean Vanessa Doofenshmirtz?"

"Of course. Once she took power, she signed a contract with RED for food, medical, and as you can see, technological aid."

That made Ivan come to a conclusion, "That explains the dice and the robot."

"Oui."

"So how have they been doing?"

"Not doing a good job of course. They're only here to contribute to the services they were paid to do. And judging by their treasury, they aren't able to afford more. However, it doesn't matter, RED will keep doing business with Doofania and rub it in our faces."

"And because of that, BLU is here to arm the rebels and overthrow Vanessa Doofenshmirtz so that they can restore order and at the same time do business with BLU." Ivan determined in a swift speech.

"Exactly." But he had to ask, "How did you know that?"

"Logic."

Since they were talking for a while, Ivan decided to check on his four legged comrade, "Haystack?"

There was no response from the quiet stallion.

"Haystack?" He repeated, "Haystack!"

"N-no! Leave us alo-" His mind quickly snapped back to reality, "Uh, huh?"

"Uh, Haystack, you alright?"

"Uh, uh." He stuttered, "Y-y-yes, Ah'm alraght."

"You don't look alright, my friend." Pierre said.

"N-no, seriously, Ah'm alraght."

"You sure?"

"Positive sir."

"Alright then, suit yourself."

Haystack let out a quiet sigh as he looked straight ahead, still in his downhearted mood.

"You know, as his commander, you should really speak to him." Pierre contacted to Ivan's earpiece, not being fooled by Haystack's evident lie.

"Can't, made a deal with him."

"What deal?"

"I don't want to talk about my background, so he doesn't have to say anything about himself."

"Well, maybe ze guy needs help on something. That's not considered personal background."

"Well..." Ivan stopped, having nothing else to say, he had to comply, "Fine."

Pierre grinned.

They felt the sand touch their feet as they stood up from the water.

"Let's go, we got a mission to complete." Pierre ordered as they glanced at the siren lighted bridge, "Now follow me."

They obeyed the order and sprinted down the beach.

"Why are we heading towards the subway rail?" Ivan asked suspiciously, "I thought you said that the subway was closed."

He turned around, "You wanna head to ze department of labor, or not?"

Ivan let out a sigh, "Yes, but you just-"

"Just trust me on this." He continued his climb upwards, "Come on."

"Ugh, well, he's been here for quite a while. Might as well trust him." He then grabbed onto the beam as well.

"Ahvan?"

"What is it?" Ivan replied while Haystack began to his climb as well.

"Well… uh… um…"

"Come on, spit it out." Ivan encouraged.

"Uh… nothin', sorry fer botherin'."

He rolled his eyes in response.

They then met with Pierre's hand reaching out towards them, before agreeing to his generous offer.

"Thanks man." Ivan said, once the two were on the tracks.

"Don't mention it." He replied while helping Haystack up, "Anyways, we must move."

"Alright then."

They entered the tunnel and made their way down.

"And how long has BLU been here?" Ivan asked.

"Tomorrow is ze fifth anniversary of BLU's arrival."

"So, five years then?"

"Of course." He said politely, "Once we heard of RED's arrival, we quickly sprung into action."

"Yeah, you just told me that."

"What?"

"Nothing, anyways, did they take it well?"

"Of course not. That has opened ze door for more proxy battles across ze world. Tell me, where are ya from?"

"Uh…" He was speechless and growing nervous.

"Oh, right, you don't want to reveal it."

"Yes sir."

"It's them!" Someone yelled.

"Uh oh." They found themselves in one of the stations where troops were waiting

"Open fire!"

"Take cover!" Ivan yelled.

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

Ivan got out a grenade and set it to explode, "Frag out!"

"GRENA-"

_BOOM!_

"Go! Go! Go!"

After that order was given, the duo left their cover and counter-attacked, taking out three soldiers standing on the edge of the platform.

"_Frigidus!" _Ivan thought, firing a blast of ice at three troops to his right, "Take cover!"

They jumped on, and ran towards the glacier. On the way, they shot two soldiers on each flank while Pierre covered them. Upon reaching it, they sat down and reloaded their guns.

_BLAM!_

Pierre would place a bullet into another soldier from the pillar he was hiding behind, clearing the place.

Then they began to hear the sound of footsteps, and they were coming from the stairs.

"Great!" Ivan stomped his foot on the marble floor. He then got out another grenade and armed it, "Frag out!"

_Clank! Clank! Clank!_

_BOOM!_

"Open fire!" One of the soldiers cried.

"More like open flame." Ivan muttered as machine gun chatter echoed across the station, _"Ignis!"_

Another ball of fire flew out of his hand, scorching five soldiers once it made contact with one of them.

The quintet screamed in agony while their enemy sprayed bullets at them and their comrades. Due to this, the platoon suffered losses and weren't even quick enough to make their move.

"Damn it, we got casualties!"

"Heh, dunces." Haystack chuckled while they were reloading behind cover.

In the meantime, Pierre got his turn.

BLAM! BLAM!

He shot down two soldiers.

"What the-"

He then cloaked himself before running towards the line of turnstiles.

"Crap, we need reinforcements!" The soldier yelled through his walkie talkie while he stared at the two soldiers' corpses.

"Roger that, dispatching troops to your location."

"Good, now close in on those bastards!"

The troops continued to open fire, taking large steps towards the glacier.

"Crud." Ivan shouted, "They got us-"

He paused, "Oh, right."

He fired his dice, only nothing came out. He then hid back to cover before the bullets could reach them.

"Great." He muffled, "No alcohol."

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Cutting sounds were heard along with more screams of pain.

"Clear." Pierre confirmed.

The two peeked out of cover to find that true.

"And just in time too." He pointed at the tunnel, where light was beginning to appear from their left.

"Oh, good." Haystack sighed, "Wait, if it's comin' from that direction, then whah didn't we go to the other station?"

"To kill time of course. Ze other station is also protected by soldiers. It could've been like ze siege of Leningrad if we went-"

That reference made Haystack cringe, "Ya know, we Equestrians don't want to be remahned of that.

"Okay, okay." Pierre spouted.

The light was getting brighter and brighter.

"Let's go, now." Ivan suggested before running towards the edge of the platform, causing the others to follow.

"Get them!"

They turned around to find three hovering drones charge towards them while two dozen soldiers were catching up.

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-beeeeep!

"Get down!" Pierre shouted before pulling out a flare gun and firing past them.

D-r-r-r-r!

The shooting from the drones' twin barrel machine guns stopped as the flare distracted them. They turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees and gave chase.

"Whoa." The two said, astonished at the sight.

By then, the train had already arrived. Once it stopped, it opened its doors and they went in. Then they closed, but not before Pierre threw an EMP grenade at the squad, disabling their communications, and their drones. Then the train sped off.

"Damn sir. You got a lot of tricks up your sleeve." Ivan complimented.

"Yes I do." He smirked before the train faded into awkward silence once more.

They sat down on separate seats and remained there quietly.

After looking around for a couple of seconds, Ivan found a tape recorder lying right next to Haystack. Apparently, he didn't know it was there in the first place.

"Haystack, can you hand me that tape recorder lying next to you?"

"Oh?" He then looked to his left and found it sitting next to his haunches, "Oh. Ok."

The pony then reached for it with his muzzle. Only thing is, he wasn't able to grab it.

Ivan rolled his eyes, "Ugh, don't worry, I'll get it."

He walked over there and grabbed it with his hand.

"Well, hour one."

"Hey, it's that guy from the last time." Iva pointed out.

"Heading for the border with my friend Davey here. We'll be meeting in a resistance cell within the city. Also, his 'daughter' are coming with. With those two elements combined, I'm implying that he doesn't want to be hunted down anymore… or fight…"

"Really?" Ivan wondered as the others listened intently.

"He told me that he'd do anything to protect that little girl from those tyrants. And quitting the resistance, and getting out of this mess hole is the only way. Vanessa Doofenshmirtz isn't too kind about children being abandoned anyway, so why bother staying here?" He sighed, "Poor kids. Parents keep abandoning them because they can't afford it… Pfft, idiots. But hey, who can blame 'em. Anyways, I'll be getting out of here shortly. That sad little girl will soon realize the true meaning of freedom once we get out."

The recording ended.

"Then how did he-"

Suddenly, it resumed.

"That douchebag's staying? Really?"

Then he heard the click, signaling its actual end.

"Huh, guess that answers it."

Haystack shrugged in agreement.

"Hmm, ze man must've been-" They then noticed that it was getting darker, "Merde, activate your-"

"We know, we know."

The train then slowed down and went to a halt before opening its doors.

"Check the train, make sure that no one's inside." A soldier ordered.

"On it."

A couple of soldiers would then go inside and take a look for about ten seconds before exiting the train. After about five seconds, the doors closed and the train was on its way again.

"Phew." Haystack sighed after his cloaking ability worn out.

Having nothing else to say, they sat back down. Pierre would look out the window, while Haystack popped another pill to recharge. This gave Ivan some time to think to himself while the others were probably doing the same thing. He then closed his eyes.

_He was reminding himself of the second day he joined the legion. He was on a bus in the middle of barren land. There, he was looking out through a window, seeing corpses and burnt crops lied on the ground. The other passengers watched in horror, panicking and asking what happened. Outside, there was music playing from a piccolo while men and women in white coats and assault rifles ran through the fields; wearing the point hats of emerald, pink, blue, and aqua blue stripes._

_The bus was beginning to slow down as they scattered the place._

"_Looks like the Celestianists are in control of this place now." A man said in a deep tone._

"_HAIL CELESTIA!" One of the rebels yelled with joy, which was followed by a battle cry from his comrades. _

_A red flag with an eight point sun was waving over them as they sang an Equestrian patriotic song._

_Ivan however, ignored it and looked down onto his lap, where a small wooden box was sitting on it._

"Ivan?" Pierre's voice jumped in.

"Whoa!" Ivan jumped a little to his voice, "Uh, yeah?"

"We're approaching ze department."

"Is that so?" He looked outside the window to find bright lights in the distance, "Oh, it is."

Pierre then reached into his pocket and exchanged his walkie talkie for a small kit.

"You know there's no time for a cigarette, right?" Ivan said once he saw the cigarettes inside.

"I know." He placed one of the cigarettes in his mouth and set it on fire with a lighter. Blue smoke began to appear once he inhaled and breathed out. Suddenly, a glowing black aura overwhelmed his body and changed him into an enemy soldier.

"_That explains it."_ Ivan thought.

Haystack on the other hand, looked in distraught; wondering how the hell that cigarette was able to do it without magic.

"Now give me your SMG."

Ivan was quick to react, "Excuse me?"

"Just trust me."

Ivan rolled his eyes, "Fine."

He handed them the weapon.

"Now turn around."

"Alright." He did just that, "C'mon Haystack."

The pony nodded before doing the same thing.

Then, the train would slow down before coming to a halt. Outside, they were met by five soldiers. They didn't do anything. They just looked at them with scowling eyes.

"Sergeant Matrix!"

"Huh?"

To their right, a middle aged man in a Burgundy coat and black service cap approached them.

"Oh, General Weaver." Pierre welcomed, "How nice it is to see you."

"Yep. So these bastards are now in custody right?" The general then joined the troops with his glare.

"Duh, they're right in front of you."

"Ha! I always like when you speak to me like that." He then gave Pierre a pat on the shoulder, "Now all we need to do is put them on ransom for Washington and Canterlot to pay off."

This shocked them a little.

"Hey, thank the great leader that she changed her mind. Anyways, thanks for catching them John."

"Yeah, don't mention it." He snapped, "Go on, you two."

He poked Ivan in his back.

"Alright, alright." Ivan muttered.

"Go on." He then poked Haystack in his flank.

"Whoa! Whoa!" He shouted in panic as he lunged forward.

"Sorry sir."

The three began to move forward, causing the others to do the same. After about thirty seconds of walking, they reached an outpost that was surrounding the building. Then, after walking across it, they were now at the department's entrance. They then walked up the stairs, where two soldiers opened the door for them.

_BOOM!_

"The hell was that?" General Weaver yelled.

"This is Hunter five, Rebel forces are on the attack!"

"Damn it!" He put his walkie talkie away, "Take those two to the dungeon…"

Ivan sneered, trying to contain his laughter, _"They have dungeons here?"_

"… C'mon Matrix! Let's go kick some Sacra ass!"

"I don't think so." Pierre replied, standing perfectly still.

"Quit being cocky, mister Matrix. Let's move!"

He aimed his rifle from his hips.

"Nope."

D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

"Huh?" A soldier looked back to find who Matrix really was.

"Spy!"

Pierre began to fire more rounds at his comrades' holders. Two of them would fall, giving the duo their chance to act. Ivan snatched one of the distracted soldiers' SMGs and shot him in the face. Haystack would use his hind legs to buck another soldier in the chest.

"Go, now!" Pierre ordered once the soldiers were lying on the floor.

So they did. They ran past the second entrance and wound up in a lobby where many officers were guarding.

Unexpectedly, the lights in the room would turn off with a flip of a switch.

"What the-"

Red lights began to appear in the distance.

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…

"Crap!" Ivan shouted before ducking and rolling forward, "Umph!"

Something hit him, and it hurt.

"Ow." Ivan muttered as he lied on his back. He rolled to his right, where he witnessed bullets being bounced off. Going over there, he reached his hand out to notice that he was now in front of a metal desk, "Haystack, you there?!"

"Yeah, whah?"

"You got your mask on?"

"Yep, you?"

"Nope, not at all."

"Well, ya maght wanna do somethin' about yer leg."

"I know, I know." Ivan countered, before placing his hand over his mask and putting it on, activating night vision. Looking down, he noticed that his ankle had a small hole in it, and blood was oozing out, "Huh."

D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

An officer on the right side was the first to fall while trying to flank Ivan's position.

"Ah'm headin' to yer position Ahvan!"

"And why do that?"

"I found a way up the stairs!"

"Ok, and?"

"Yer gonna need help gettin' up there! That hurt leg won't help ya at all!"

D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

Another officer met his fate.

"Don't worry about me, go on!"

_D-r-r-r-r-r-Click!_

"Damn it, why didn't I take the time to fill up with-" He then found a revolver lying right next to him, "Oh, how convenient."

BLAM! BLAM!

He managed to shoot an officer in the chest.

BLAM! BLAM!

Then another officer in between his eyes, making him fall off the balcony he was standing on.

"See, I'm f-"

He then felt Haystack's muzzle press underneath them and left him up.

"The hell are ya-"

"Ah don't think so, we're gettin' outta here!"

"You know I'm a moving target, right?" He asked, his belly against his back.

"Don't worry, you won't be!" He assured.

They then got up and ran towards the stairway, with Ivan providing cover. Well, he did his best. Primarily because he had to focus on holding both guns and deal with Haystack's galloping. They then reached the stairs and ascended, causing the soldiers to give chase.

Once they were on the second floor, Ivan got out his last grenade, bit the blade off, and tossed it down.

_BOOM!_

"Damn it!" One of them cried.

_D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!_

"Are you going to put me down now?" Ivan asked, not being able to take the fact that he's lying over Haystack's back, "Not yet."

_Ding!_

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at…_

"Ponyfeathers!"

"Umph!"

Haystack pressed his back against the wall.

"Hey, what the hell, man?!"

"Sorry! Anyways here!" He reached into his pocket and gave him a syringe.

CLANK! CLANK!

"Aw hay!" He used his teeth to grab Ivan from the arm and get him out of there.

"Ow!" Ivan shouted as Ivan dragged him over to an empty room across the elevator, "Will you-"

BOOM!

"Damn! They're on the other side!"

"So what the hell is this?" Ivan asked, observing the urine colored liquid inside.

"Inject in yourself!"

"Uh, I don't know…" Ivan doubted, "I don't trust syringes from Equestria."

"Just trust me on this!" He opened fire from the entrance.

D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

One soldier met his fate.

"Alright! But if I die, then may whatever god that exists out there have mercy on your soul!"

That sentence made him shed a tear as his stomach churned once more.

"Hey, where do I inject?"

"Anywhere!"

_D-r-r-r-r-Click!_

"Fine!" He stuck the needle in his arm and pressed the plunger. After all the liquid in the barrel was emptied, he felt a cold feeling in his wound, as well as a tingly sensation. Looking down, he noticed that the wound was no longer there. He then stood up and jerked his ankle to see what it did. Impressed by the vaccine's power, he muttered, "Nice."

_D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!_

_BLAM! Cl-click!_

The soldier ran towards Haystack's position and prepared to fire his shotgun.

BLAM!

The soldier groaned in pain as a bullet blew his brain out.

"Thanks man, I don't owe you anything." He said while drinking a bottle of beer from the desk.

"Yer wel- Wait, what?"

"I shot that guy that was about to blow your torso out, meaning that my debt's been paid."

"Oh." Haystack said, dumbfounded by Ivan's logic.

In the meantime, Ivan exited the room and dealt with the last officer at the end of the hallway.

"Kinda weird that they would make an elevator that only go up one floor at a time."

"Huh." Haystack then used his hoof to press the up button. The door then closed before making its ascension, "Hey Ahvan, what's elevator?"

He face palmed yet again, "You could've asked me that a while back you know."

_Ding!_

The door slid open.

_BLAM!_

Ivan's bullet struck a soldier in the stomach.

_BLAM!_

Then in the head before the man fell onto his knees and then on his belly.

"Ignis!" Ivan thought, sending the ball of fire towards the middle of the hallway.

_BOOM!_

"AAAAAHHHH!" The officers cried as flamed corrupted their skin.

"Good thing the floor wasn't made of carpet." He got up and used the water fountain as cover while Haystack stayed behind.

_BLAM! Click!_

"Damn it, out of ammo." Ivan moaned before reloading his pistol.

_D-r-r-r-r-r-r!_

The last soldier collapsed as Haystack's SMG rounds finished him off.

"Wow, that was quick."

They then proceeded up the next elevator and headed for the final floor.

_Ding!_

Ivan tossed a grenade out.

"Grenade!"

_BOOM!_

Quickly, they ran out of the elevator and used the across room for cover. Ivan then fired another ball of fire towards the floor, igniting three soldiers.

"Ha." Ivan smirked as he heard more screams of agony.

"Still alive, you sons of bitches!"

"Huh?"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at!_

_BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_

"Ah crap!" He got back to cover, but caught a glimpse of the enemy, who was wearing flamed EOD armor and firing from an MG4.

_D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!_

Haystack's SMG bullets were as useless as Ivan's pistol bullets, "Really?"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at!_

"Yikes!" He switched to his shotgun.

BLAM!

"Umph!" The soldier groaned as he was pushed back by the shells.

This gave Ivan a chance to aim for the head as he got up.

"I don't think so, you douche!"

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at!_

"Damn!" Ivan returned to cover.

_Cl-click!_

_BLAM!_

"Aah!"

Rat-at-at-at-at!

"Umph!" A burning pain ensued in Haystack's stomach.

"Haystack!" Ivan yelled, witnessing the event unfold.

The stallion sat against the wall as he began to bleed. While doing so, he began to search for the syringes as the pain worsened. His heart was beating louder as he struggled to save his own life. And at the same time, a nightmare was flashing before his eyes.

The music box from his earlier memory play loudly in his head as he ran down a colorless forest and a colorless sky. He was panting loudly as he did so. The chant from the protesters were also doing its part.

"_**WIPE AWAY THE DEBT, TO WIPE AWAY HIS SINS!"**_

"No, don't dah." Haystack pleaded to himself while he was twisting the cap off, "Please, please!"

"_**MAY CELESTIA HAVE MERCY ON YOUR FAMILY'S SOUL!"**_

"No, no, no, NO!"

Plat!

He felt the needle's sharpness sting his arm while pushing the plunger down. His pants would dumb down to just soft breaths as he felt the vaccine do his work.

He heard groaning sounds as he was able to regain his composure.

"Ahvan?"

The EOD armored soldier fell right in front of him.

"Haystack, you alright?! Come in Haystack!" Ivan called in worry

"Ah'm alraght." He replied solemnly, "Alra-"

"Thank god for those syringes you brought."

"Uh, yeah." He replied, still feeling depressed from what he saw.

BLAM! BLAM!

The last soldier groaned after Ivan dealt with him.

He ran across the hall to get to him, "Huh, you look down and out when you shouldn't be."

The pony nodded.

"Ugh, you." He glanced behind him to find a grenade bouncing towards them, "Great."

He grabbed the grenade and tossed it back.

_BOOM!_

"Come on!" He ran across towards another water fountain.

_BLAM! BLAM!_

The last soldier in the hall was dealt with those two shots.

"Clear… for now." He said in a histrionic matter, "And I said come on."

Haystack peeked out of the elevator, "Ya sure."

"Oh come on!" He complained, "Really? You were all like-"

"Fahne, comin'." And so he did.

"Oh yeah, take the shotgun. I'll take the LMG."

"Whah?"

"Backup weapon, unless you want to shoot it all the way 'til the end."

"Oh, raght."

They grabbed the weapons and the ammo before going down the hall and raiding the main office.

"You can't have her!" An elderly man in a tux yelled before…

_BLAM!_

The man spun in defeat before landing on the floor, deceased.

"Whah'd ya kill 'em?"

"We don't need him. We're just here to burn the files, and what?"

He looked to his right to find Maribelle sitting on a chair. Her eyes were filled with tears as her hands were tied to the back.

"Is that, Maribelle? Huh, I wonder why they got her tied up like that." He walked over to the trembling girl and began to untie the rope, he then asked gently, "Hold still

She nodded timidly.

"Good. Now can you tell me what happ-"

"Ahvan, the redness on her cheeks maght explain the situation."

Ivan looked at them, and agreed, "Damn, why would that guy do that?"

"Don't know, but there are the files." He walked up to the files which was hiding inside a filing cabinet and tossed a grenade and a lighter inside before closing the drawer.

_BOOM!_

The smoke and debris flew out, knocking it to the ground.

"Now that all the abandoned children are no longer being hunted, let's get the hell out of here!"

"Of course." He then bent over, "C'mon Maribelle, hop on."

His position made the little girl smile, "Um, ok."

Then she did so.

After reaching the first floor through the stairs, they managed to rendezvous with Pierre who was waiting below. He was surrounded by rebel soldiers and odd turrets scattered all over the floor.

"Huh, that was quick." Ivan muttered.

"Pierre, we have to move, enemy reinforcements will be here in no time." A rebel opined him as the two walked up to him.

"Of course, but we have to-" He then glanced at them, "Oh, well what do you know."

"Pierre we managed to-"

"Good, now let's get-" Then he realized who Haystack was carrying on his back, "Is that Maribelle?"

"Uh, yeah? Why?"

He shook his head, "No time to explain, let's move."

They exited out a back door where they and the rest of the platoon followed. To summarize, they managed to push their way through enemy lines and destroy anyone that was in their way. However, they would lose eight of their own in the procedure. After pushing their way out and reaching the front lines, they made their retreat.


End file.
